Bringing You Your Happiness
by crazyanimelover326
Summary: Natsume meets the kind but feared Mikan at his father's pub. Then he sees her at school. How does this quick acquaintance lead to him becoming her best friend. And then learning about her long and hard life brings them closer. Will love emerge? NxM Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Mikan-15 going on 16 Natsume- 16 going on 17 Rest of the gang- you'll know

I did a lot of research and googling for this story, so checking the links would make me happy. Remove the spaces before hitting enter on your browser. I hope you enjoy and review!!!!

I rode my motorcycle down the street towards my destination. When I saw the alley way with the door at the end and "Satan's Den" written above it I parked. This is my father's pub. I walked in and sat down at the front of the bar.

"Arent you a little too young to walk into a pub?" the waitress asked. I looked up at her. The waitress has seen me so many times, why is she asking? So he got a new waitress?

"You look about the same age as me to be talking. Little girls should not be in dangerous places like these and get me a Bud Lite." I said. She nodded and retrieved it for me.

"Here's your Bud Lite and I won't say anything to your other statements." she said. My father came out from behind a few doors and greeted me.

"Hey Natsume. You seemed to have met Mikan, our new waitress." he said. I nodded.

"I'm gonna go look at the job board for a sec." the supposed Mikan said to my father, walking out from behind the counter. I watched her retreat and then turned to my father.

"Why'd you hire her? She's only about my age and shouldn't be handling beer or mercenaries. You know that some of the guys that walk in here are like that." I said. My father didn't answer and headed back through the doors. Damn old geezer. He left with that smirk again.

"You want another drink?" Mikan asked walking up from behind, grabbing my empty bottle and disposing of it. This girl seems way too innocent for anything in here.

"Why did my dad hire you?" I asked. She shrugged her shoulders at me and I stared at her suspiciously. She just gave me a smile and walked to serve a guy further down the counter. I stayed there for a few more hours. It seems like none of the guys mess with her in any way. Maybe it's because they don't like girls too young. Heck, forget it. I have school tomorrow. I'm surprised that I managed to sneak out so easily either way.

Next Day Natsume's POV Still

I snuck into my dorm last night without getting caught. I wonder what the guards were getting ready for and bringing in that they didn't even notice me sneaking in and out. It doesn't matter. I walked into class and sat down. The fangirls crowded around me until I burnt one of their hairs and they backed off. I pulled out my manga and put up my feet. Naru pranced in giddily in front of the classroom.

"Class we have a new student!" he yelled. Everybody gasped. Alice Academy hasn't had a new student in a while. It's always a hassle, but no matter what, there is never anybody interesting enough for me.

"You can come in." Naru said to the door. I just closed my eyes to sleep but the way whispers spread like fire caused me to take in my surroundings. Up front there was the waitress from yesterday but she had her hands behind her back with handcuffs on. She didn't even give a smile but the boys were still attracted to her.

"Mikan Sakura, pleased to meet you." she said numbly. The look on her face was familiar. It was the look of being tired from the weight of alice control devices. Out of pity I burnt the handcuffs and everybody started looking at me.

"Hyuuga, I didn't know you had an alice. You didn't have to do that." she said. I rolled my eyes.

"They put too many devices on you at the same time." I said. She shook her head.

"I'll adjust. But I might as well leave my wrists loose." she said wringing her wrists. She walked over and sat next to me and all the girls glared.

"Oh shut up, it's the only empty seat left anyway." she said, completely disrespecting and then disregarding them. We didn't talk at all through the period, just listened to the lessons as they went by. I'm sure my fangirls were happy about that since they stopped staring after a class or two, but guys were eye fucking her from the minute she walked in. I just went to sleep as she paid attention to class, though for some reason her eyes seemed more distant, colder, than the eyes I saw yesterday. They were bright and lively at the pub, or at least while she was talking to you my dad.

Lunch Time Natsume's POV

I walked to my sakura tree only to find Mikan placed on it.

"For future reference, this is my tree." I said.

"For future reference, you cant just claim a tree that is on school property." she replied. So she managed to bite back at me.

"Are you the reason that getting in and out of the academy was so easy?" I asked. She mutely nodded, keeping her position on my tree.

"If you want to lie down, all you have to do it take the other side. Besides, it's shady there. You have a less chance of being seen by fangirls." she said. I looked at the other side and decided to take her advice.

"Don't get used to me listening to you." I said, before getting comfortable and taking a nap. She didn't talk to me about anything or such.

Later in the Day After All Classes Natsume's POV

"Are you a fangirl too?" I groaned turning around to face Mikan.

"I have no satisfaction in following you Hyuuga. I just need to get to my room because if you havent noticed, you're not the only special star anymore." she said. I looked at her uniform and saw the circle around her star.

"That's something new. And how did you end up a special star, not to mention with shackles around your wrists when you first came in." I said. She shrugged as if she didn't know why but I know she did from the grin on her face. She walked right past me into the only other door on the floor besides my room.

Next Day Natsume's POV Still

Narumi called ability class day so I'm just waiting for Rui-sensei. That's what he said to call him. He's been here a week and it was rumored that Persona was murdered during a mission, but nobody knows by who. I'm glad though. This guy gives less missions, though they are still tough. And he has awful punishments, which is the reason that nobody is late for his class. I sensed a dark presence. He must be arriving.

"More missions for everyo…" he started until raising up an arm to block something. I saw Mikan there attacking sensei.

Mikan's POV

I already know that nii-chan's the teacher, now all I have to do is attack him for not welcoming me back. I walked through the forest and then saw his tall figure. Perfect, an attack from the back. Let's see if he sharpened up his skills. I ran, jumped, and then kicked mid flight aiming for his head, but he blocked it with his arm. We had a quick hand to hand combat sparring match until I just landed myself on his back. He turned to the students that were all stunned, probably at how I kept up with their sensei. My hands were around his neck to keep on his back but he started prying them apart until I dropped down of my own free will.

"We need to talk later, nii-chan. About all these alice control devices and about not welcoming me back." I said walking over to Hyuuga and sitting down on the ground. He looked like he had a few questions for me.

"Nii-chan?" he asked.

"That's what you call a brother." I said. I listened and waited for the long meeting to be over until nii-chan approached me.

"Hyuuga." he said, greeting him for a sec. Hyuuga nodded in response, but stayed there unlike all the other students, probably wanting to hear the conversation.

"Nii-chan, I want all of these alice control devices off." I demanded. He shook his head.

"Taking those off are just going to give you pain." he said.

"I will crush you like when we were little nii-chan. I need to have these things off. They're weighing me down and not to mention that I took a mission tonight from a pub." I said.

"Mikan, you're still doing those missions?!" he asked sounding mad at me.

"They don't call me Satan's daughter for nothing, nii. I'm fine but these things are bringing me down. How am I supposed to live without being able to use my alice? I wont be able to make the deadlines. I wont even be able to get out of the school to get to work." I whined.

"Stop whining and where did you get a job? I doubt any sane person would hire a 15 year old girl even if you told them your birthday was next month." he said. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Strip clubs don't really have an age limit. Some guys like their women young." I teased. Hyuuga looked taken back and my brother just grabbed my wrist tightly and stared me in the eye as if threatening me to quit or be punished.

"She works at my dad's pub as a waitress and bartender, not a strip club." Hyuuga then said, before my brother could murder me.

"Why'd you have to ruin the fun, Hyuuga?" I asked.

"Cuz your brother looked like he was about to kill you and I don't doubt he would do it. He scares the fuck out of all the students in DA class." he responded. I rolled my eyes and then pinched and pulled on my brother's cheek.

"He might look killer but he's a big mush ball inside. Besides, he can't touch me. I trained him." I said. Natsume looked very tense.

"Mikan stop that!" my brother yelled fiercely, pulling my hand off his cheek.

"And you better not say shit about this." he threatened Natsume.

"Don't be mean to Natsume, nii-chan. He's very kind considering that he was worried yesterday about his father hiring me being so young to work at a pub, and unlike you he removed one of my devices. Those retards made wooden alice control handcuffs and Natsume kindly got rid of them, though I wasn't paying attention to how." I explained. He looked at Natsume.

"So, since he is so nice to you, I'm going to assign him to watch over you through your years in Gakuen Alice, I guess like a bodyguard and go with you wherever you go, he goes. If you have a mission, he has a mission. If you have to go to work, he has to watch over you at work. But, keep your hands off my sister, or I will personally dislocate them. And keep your hormones to yourself too. My sister will not be your victim." Nii-chan said.

"Whatever, but why me?" Hyuuga asked.

"Because you're one of the few operatives I trust and I can tell my sister can tolerate you. No more questions so I'll leave." he said, turning around and walking away.

"Sorry about my brother's intenseness there. He has been overprotective of me since childhood and only took the teaching job in case I was caught by the school. I hope you don't mind being around me a few hours a day. You don't have to stick me like Rui-nii says." I said.

"It's okay. You seem like an interesting person anyway. It would be nice to get to know you, though I wont be sticking to you 24/7." Natsume said. I smiled at him.

"You should be careful on my missions, though I will probably do everything. And at the pub you'll probably find out a few things about me. I usually don't tell people things about me directly and they find out by themselves. Oh and be prepared to be attacked by AAO and people a lot. You can usually rely on me to handle that though." I said. He nodded as I began to walk out of the forest, Natsume trailing right behind. We walked into the dormitory building. He led me to my room. Entering, I stopped him.

"Sleep a lot today. I have a busy schedule tomorrow seeing as it is Saturday. My life might be tough to keep up with and you agreed to a hell of challenge to guard." I said, then pushed him away from my door way with a smirk, closing the door in front of his face lightly.

Natsume's POV

I don't know if I should be insulted for getting the door closed on my face. She sounds like a seductress. I think I'm gonna like guarding this girl, despite the challenge she says she'll be . I walked to my room and went to bed.

Next Day at 6 AM Natsume's POV

I heard knocking on my door. Who the hell is up this early?! I got out of bed and walked to the door, opening it to reveal Mikan in sweats and with an ipod.

"You really shouldn't open a door like that. You need to ask who it is. Remember you are one of the most sought out operatives of the school." she said walking in. For a second I saw her looking at my chest and I noticed that I had forgotten to put on a shirt, seeing as I only sleep with my long pajama pants.

"Like what you see?" I asked when I saw the blush on her face. She immediately looked away.

"N-no! Just change into some sweats!" she said. I walked away from the doorway to head to my room.

"Sit down if you want." I called as I looked around my room for a clean white shirt and some grey sweats. After finding it at last, I changed and walked over to Mikan sitting down on the couch in the living room.

"Can you explain to me why exactly I am in sweats at six thirty in the morning?" I asked.

"Well Natsume dearest, I always go for a morning jog. I need to keep my stamina and endurance up, so since you are my guard you have to come with me. You see, the only thing I really need a body guard for is probably being attacked by a gang of guys. Now you seem like the type of person to scare off guys in a second, so you can be put to good use in that matter." she explained, getting up and walking out. I followed behind her. When we got outside she immediately started the jog.

"We're gonna jog all around the school and you're gonna have to keep up with me." she said. That's when she started picking up speed. Seeing as it was early in the morning and I don't jog everyday, it was hard for me to keep up. We jogged around the school 3 times, and let me tell you that this school is huge, explaining the two hours it took us. When we stopped, she wasn't out of breath at all.

"I think you were going easy on me." I said. She mutely nodded with an apologetic smile.

"Come on." she said, extending a hand to help me up from the tree I was slumping at.

"Let's get upstairs and take a shower, change into some clothes and head to the pub." she said. I sighed and began walking with her. She talked to me and asked me yes or no questions that I usually replied to with a nod or a shake of my head. I like this girl. She's bright and talkative, the exact opposite of me, weird enough for me, I seem to like that. Whatever, it's not like it's gonna amount to anything. After taking my shower I changed into some jeans and a regular t-shirt and walked out. Mikan was standing right at the door and seemed like she was about to twist the doorknob. She was wearing white cargo capris and an off shoulder white blouse.

"Perfect timing. Let's head to the pub." she said. She skipped down the hallway but at one point she immediately stopped and walked slowly. A person seemed to be passing by.

"Did you stop skipping because of that person?" I asked. She mutely nodded as I raised an eyebrow.

"You see, Natsume, dangerous ability class students are no supposed to show emotion, but when I'm around you, I can, seeing as you are in the same class. Besides, I don't trust others to see my real personality unless I see it fit. And trust me, I have a variety of personalities." she explained. I just shrugged and we kept walking. She approached the gate casually and slipped right through the bars, gesturing me to do the same.

"How did we get through so easily?" I asked.

"You might not have noticed but I made us invisible and then put a barrier around us so that the principals wouldn't notice when we left." she explained to me as we began walking down the sidewalk.

"Let's find an alleyway so that I can teleport us to the pub." she said. Knowing my way around the city, I found one for us quick and she teleported us in front of the pub.

"Are you sure you want to go in there? The guys in the pub on Saturdays and Sundays are a lot more brutal and perverted. And some aren't usual pub members." I said. She chuckled and grabbed my hand leading me in. It felt nice with her hand in mine. They fit perfectly together. She led me to the bar and I sat down in front of the counter. She walked through the doors and soon came back in her waitress outfit.

"So, Natsume, Bud Lite again?" she asked. I nodded and she handed me the beer. She then pulled out a whisky bottle.

"Is that for me or you?" I asked.

"Me." she answered. I raised and eyebrow as she poured some for herself in a tall beer mug.

"If you get drunk, your brother will kill me when he sees me carrying you. Not to mention the pub is pretty far from the school." I said. She took the entire glass in one gulp.

"Let me tell you now, I'm not like every girl." she said, pouring herself more. My dad came out from the doors in back.

"Hey Mikan, Natsume." he said. I nodded as Mikan gave a small wave and smile.

"Your son is my new bodyguard. I hope that you don't mind." she said.

"Hey, maybe he'll finally have a chance of getting a girl. He never lets a girl near him." he said. I looked down and growled at my father.

"You didn't have to say that." I said. Mikan gave a giggle and came out from behind the counter.

"Come on, Natsume, since you will be sticking with me during a few of my missions, you need to look at the job board with me." she said, leading me off my seat and to the board.

Mikan's POV

I led him to the board and pushed through a few people to see. I was about to grab for one but a guy grabbed it before me. He was about to turn around but I pulled his shirt sleeve.

"Excuse me sir, but I was gonna take that." I said. He looked at me.

"I know, that's why I grabbed it. This job is difficult. A little lady like you can't do these types of things." he said. I smirked.

"Really, and are you new to the mercenary business?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean anything." he said. Everybody was looking at the two of us.

"Yo, don't mess with that girl if you wanna live." a guy far off in the pub said. The main man ignored his comment.

"My name is Satsuki. And I don't think you know any better than me." Satsuki said.

"Trust me, Satsuki, I know plenty more than you. Do you know my name?" I asked.

"No, but I hope to find it out in bed. I wanna hear you moan my name and if you do and suck me well enough, maybe I'll groan yours." he said, leaning down and beginning to kiss my neck, trying to seduce me most likely.

"Ah, isn't that sweet. You wanna take me to your bed." I said, in a mock sweet tone. I noticed his hand reaching for my breast and slapped it away. I kneed his stomach and he flew across the room.

"First thing you have to learn in the mercenary business, is who not to mess with. I'm one of those people." I said, in a cold harsh tone now.

"W-who are you?" Satsuki stuttered.

"Mikan Sakura at your service, or I guess not." I said.

"You're not normal! You're only 15 or 16, right? You're not supposed to be able to knee like that!" he yelled, clutching his gut. I didn't answer and took the paper that landed on the floor when I kneed him. Mr. Hyuuga stepped up to the board.

"Satsuki, this is Mikan Sakura, my new 15 year old waitress and the only female mercenary in the business. Some starter information for you is not to mess with her." he said. Satsuki got up and shot Mr. Hyuuga a look.

"I already heard that, old man." Satsuki said. The disrespectful shit. I gave a glance to Natsume as a signal. In a flash he had Satsuki back on the floor, in a lock.

"Let me tell you a little more about her if you absolutely need to know. She's the top assassin in China, Japan, and Korea. She is also known and nicknamed as the "Million Alice Mercenary"." Mr. Hyuuga finished.

"With my friend over there, as my new helper doesn't make it any easier for anybody. He's the top mission operative of Alice Academy." I added.

"A-Alice Academy?! You have those freak powers?!!!" he said, now struggling to get out of Natsume's iron grip.

"Oh, I guess you're one of those people that cant use their fists. Guns solve all with you people. Try punching a person to death for once, you coward." I spat at him.

"My son isn't one to play, so he isn't one to mess with either. He'll burn you to ashes in a matter of seconds." Mr. Hyuuga said.

"But, lucky for you, I always give second chances unless I'm on a job, so I'll just have Natsume let you go. But don't disrespect me, Mr. Hyuuga, or Natsume or I will kill you, slowly and painfully." I said. Natsume released him, giving him a threatening look and walking to my side without a word.

"Oh, and I'll be keeping this job." I said, flashing the paper he took before me and then walking with Natsume and Mr. Hyuuga behind me towards the bar. I got back behind the counter and took another swing of my whisky mug.

"I think you should throw creeps like that out." I said to Mr. Hyuuga with a scowl.

"I wish I could sometimes, but they rake in the money I need. Alice Academy doesn't come cheap." Mr. Hyuuga said. I agree with him completely seeing as I need to pay the bills for my family.

"So Natsume, would you like to meet the rest of my family now or wait until later?" I asked.

Natsume's POV

"I think I'll meet them later. Who knows, your brother might fire me for something before I even need to meet them." I answered.

"Well then it's settled. We're going to the park when my shift is over." she said.

"Are you drunk? Did you just say the park?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, I'm not drunk. That is such an insult. Of course I said the park. Liven up a bit. The park will bring back memories of childhood. Besides, it's good to be a kid every once in a while. With my travel between countries for jobs I never really get to enjoy myself. At least I have somebody to enjoy time with now. It gets lonely sometimes, having to be the one in the family to work and not being able to take the time to relax because your always moving around. But now that the academy has caught me, I get to settle for a while." she said. She looked upset when she mentioned loneliness. It pained my heart to see her face that way for some reason. So I did what I knew I was required to do. I lifted her over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes or rice.

"Well, I guess your shift is over. Let's go to the park." I said.

"Yay!" she said. Everybody stared in amusement as I carried her out while I heard my father give a hearty laugh. Damn, he's gonna hold this against me in the future. I led her to the closest park. Every child there stopped what they were doing when they saw how I was holding Mikan. And I could easily tell that all of the children's mothers were thinking "What the hell are young adults like them doing at a children's park?". But Mikan jumped right off my shoulder and ran to the swings, sitting herself on one of them.

"Come on, Natsume! Sit down on a swing!" she yelled across the park. This girl is so childish, I couldn't help but give a small smile before I walked over and sat on the swing next to her. I have never seen anyone like her. And to think the I just met her two days ago and she feels like a friend already. She swung to no end and looked as if she were gonna fall right into the sky when she went her highest. I just sat there making small motions, my feet never leaving the ground. I watched as she went extremely high and then jumped off. I knew she could take care of herself, so I let her land on the ground on her feet, not getting up from my seat. She walked up to me with a pout on her face.

"Natsume, don't be a party pooper. You barely moved." she said. I rolled my eyes.

"I don't need to move that much. Let's go." I said, getting up and grabbing her hand to lead her out of the park.

"Ah! Do we have to go back yet? There's not gonna be anything to do at the academy!" she whined.

"I didn't say we were going to the academy." I said. She stopped whining and began leading me somewhere.

"What the hell? How do you know where we're going?" I asked, seeing that just going the right way.

"I read your mind. The street signs over there are very helpful." she said, and I noticed them.

"I hope you can not make that a habit. I like my thoughts to be kept private." I said.

"Well, since you are taking me to an amusement park, I guess that's an okay request. I wont read your mind. I respect your privacy." she said. The amusement park came into view at that moment and Mikan jumped onto line for tickets. I walked slowly behind her.

"I think you have too much energy." I said, while we were waiting on line. She had been jumping up and down excitedly since we got there.

"I'm just happy! I've never been to an amusement park!" she said still jumping. I put my hand on her arm to keep her on the ground.

"Keep your energy for when we're inside." I said my voice as emotionless as usual.

"Okay!" she yelled. Everybody looked our way for a second but then turned back as we approached the ticket booth.

"Oh, such a rarity! We have few couples your age that stop by!" the ticket lady said.

"We're not a couple." I said, still emotionless. From the corner of my eye I saw Mikan with a small blush.

"Oh you must be pulling my leg! You two look perfect together. I remember a couple like you guys. They denied being a couple, but in the end they got together and married." the lady said. Mikan began blushing even more. Her face was completely red.

"Just hand us the tickets please." I said handing her the money. She passed it to us and waved us off. Mikan's blush stayed on her face while we were walking in.

"Hey tomato face, just don't take it into consideration." I said.

"I was not blushing!" she yelled.

"I didn't say that. I called you tomato face." I said.

"But there has to be reason behind an insult and I was not blushing!" she whined.

"I didn't say that." I said, smirking.

"I can see your face! You're not saying it, but you mean it! I can see that smirk on your face!" she whined.

"Whatever. Where do you wanna go first?" I asked.

"Hmm. According to this map, which I can read, Congo Rapids is nearby. I love water rides!" she said.

"I hate water rides." I hissed.

"Well, too bad, you bathe in water everyday. You're going with me." she said, dragging me the wrong way. I gave a small tug on her arm and she turned around.

"What is it now, Natsume?! I wanna get to the ride before the line gets long!" she whined.

"The ride is this way." I said pointing to the opposite direction she was dragging me in.

"No! Look at my map! I think something is wrong with yours." she said unfolding her map. I gave a chuckle and turned her map right side up.

"Next time, try not to read the map upside down." I said dragging her by her arm the correct way.

"Damn maps. I hate them." she mumbled while I just gave a chuckle. We went on the ride and got completely soaked during all the bumps. Mikan got off the ride with a huge smile on her face besides ignoring or liking the fact of being completely soaked while I just got off cursing the damn ride off.

"Damn shit. I hate water. If I could rid the world of damn water rides…" I mumbled.

"So what should we go on next?" Mikan asked.

"Polka dots, you can go on any ride you want. I'm taking you, you're not taking me." I said.

"Polka? Polka dots? Polka… POLKA DOTS!!!" she screamed realizing I could see through her blouse, the white with rainbow polka dots bra she was wearing.

"Y-you perv! Your supposed to be my bodyguard! Hell, I might need a bodyguard from you!" she yelled covering up her chest.

"Doesn't this amusement park have drying stuff?! I cant walk around like this!" she yelled. I couldn't help but laugh out loud and bend over clutching my stomach hearing her complain. After my laughter died down, I tugged her arms away from her chest.

"W-what are you doing perv?!" she asked.

"I'm not a perv. And I'm drying you." I said, looking around so that nobody was around to see my alice.

"Drying me? How?" she asked. I created many fireballs and had them dance around her body for a while. She looked very pleased and entertained with the fireballs.

"They're so pretty. It looks like they're dancing." she told me. I nodded.

"You have a pretty alice, Natsume. Your laugh isnt half bad either." she then added. I moved the fireballs to dry me now. I covered a small blush with my bangs. Nobody has ever told me anything positive about my alice before. They only said that it was used for destruction and killing. I've never laughed before either.

"So who's the tomato face now?" she then asked.

"No one." I said.

"What?! You don't think I can see that blush on your face?" she said. I looked up, well, down at her.

"Do you see any blush on my face at the moment, polka dots?" I asked, leaning my face close for her to see. A blush crept up to her face again.

"Tomato face returns. The tea cups will help you cool down." I said. She burst out in laughter right on the spot.

"What?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Out of all the rides in this amusement park, you chose the tea cups?!" she laughed out. I growled at her when she put a hand on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry Natsume, but you are always cold, stoic, and with this emotionless voice. I was expecting you to choose some high and crazy roller coaster." she said, reducing her laugh to giggles.

"Fine then, since you are so caught up on that, you can go on the tea cups alone and I'll just sit on this bench." I said plopping myself down on the bench right behind us.

"Ah, come on Natsume. I didn't mean it. Don't get sensitive. It's no fun without you!" she whined.

"What's in it for me?" I asked, looking up.

"Oh you bad, bad person." she said shaking her head. I smirked at the look on her face.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"Hmm, I'll get back to you on that. But when I find out what I want, you will agree without objections." I said. She now had her arms crossed over her chest with a pout.

"Fine." she agreed. Before I could even help myself up, she grabbed my arm and began dragging me to the tea cups.

"I do have feet for a reason. I think you should let me use them." I said. Ignoring my comment, she continued to drag me. I paid no mind to the fact that people were staring at us, but instead that I actually like being dragged by this girl. I hope sticking around her doesn't change me too much. There was no line for the tea cups and from the minute we were locked in, Mikan began spinning the wheel as quickly as she could, though it wasn't quick at all.

"Natsume help me spin the wheel!" she said when the tea cups began moving.

"No." I replied shortly. She frowned at me and I sighed. I began pushing the wheel slowly.

"We'll never go fast at this rate." she said.

"I have never seen a person your age be so childish." I said.

"Well now you have. Now spin the wheel faster." she threatened. I spun it much faster until she begged me to slow down and the ride stopped.

"I am never getting on tea cups with you again." she said moving all over the place. I guess the speed got to her and now she's dizzy. I put my arms on her shoulders to get her walking straight.

"Let's just get on the rest of the rides before you pass out." I said. She immediately jumped out of her stupor and back into hyper mode, dragging me to the wrong places and every ride until it finally started becoming dark.

"It's getting dark now. The academy will start checking the rooms. We should start heading back before they start something huge." I said.

"I don't wanna go!" Mikan whined.

"Fine, one more ride." I said.

"Yay!" she screamed giving me a quick hug before dragging me like she has been doing all day.

"For once I would like to use my legs, polka dots. And where exactly are you dragging me off to this time?" I asked.

"I'm dragging you to the Ferris Wheel. I've always wanted to ride one." she said, completely forgetting that I called her polka dots again. There was a short line for it and we got on the red cart. The ride to the top was filled with Mikan looking out the windows and making comments about seeing the whole world from the Ferris wheel. When we got to the top she stopped all her moving around and her eyes grew distant.

"If I were born without an alice…" she started. Her face slowly grew into a frown.

"Mikan, I was never told what your alice is. You already know that mine is fire." I said, trying to make her happy again.

"Nullification and Steal-Copy-Erase. It's the reason all these alice control devices are left on me. The academy fears that my alice might get out of hand and do something I will regret. I have an awkward form of alice. It's the unlimited type but as I get older, my power increases. So they add more devices. But too many devices, doesn't allow me to use my alice at all and is a pain in the ass. It hurts for me to use my alice with the devices because it's forcing my alices but if I use my alice too much it hurts even more without them and it is a completely complex system and plain and simple it sucks. It took a lot for me to get us out of the academy and teleport us to the pub." she said, her voice gentle and sad.

"You shouldn't have done it then. We could've taken my motorcycle just as easily." I said. She shook her head and shrugged.

"It doesn't matter. But let's get off that topic. You are my best friend from now on." she said.

"You are so random." I said. She smiled at me and the wheel began to move and bring us back down to the bottom.

"Hey, you'll probably be the only person I talk to in the academy so you're just gonna have to deal with it." she said. She didn't stop talking from the time that we got off from the ride, to the time that we walked up to the school. We saw guards running around yelling "Where the fuck is that girl? She's so damn troublesome! And after all it took to get her here yesterday!".

"Hey! Open the gates!" Mikan called out. The guards opened the gate and immediately grabbed Mikan by her upper arm.

"You!" they said with venom in their voice.

"Me what? What are you gonna do to me? What can you do to me? Or at least, what do you think you can do to me?" Mikan said with even more venom. She roughly wrenched her arm out of their grasp. She grabbed my hand and led me in. I could tell that the guards were staring at us.

"This damn academy. Ruining my happy day." she said.

"I was expecting it. Your alices make you practically invincible. They wouldn't want you out of the academy. They're usually hard on me, so they are gonna try to be harder on you." I said.

"You should go ahead. I'll teleport. My brother is probably waiting for me in my room. We wouldn't him to blame you. Though I would probably have to tell anyway." she said. I nodded and headed out in front of her.

Mikan's POV

I teleported into my room and I was greeted by my brother's glare.

"Where the hell were you?! I was looking for you all over this damn campus and couldn't find you anywhere!" he yelled at me. I rolled my eyes.

"Natsume took me to the amusement park after my shift at work." I answered.

"On a date? He's not your boyfriend is he?" he asked, looking at me suspiciously.

"No! I just see Natsume as a friend." I said.

"You're not supposed to leave this school unless it's for missions or something worthy of leaving the school. Not having fun at an amusement park." he scolded me. It made me extremely upset that he wouldn't think of my feelings and my past.

"Well I'm sorry nii-chan. I'm sorry if I'm the one who has to do everything in this family! I'm sorry that I want to relax for a while! I'm sorry that nobody cares about how I feel! I haven't had fun in my life! I haven't had a fucking childhood yet!" I yelled. His eyes softened.

"Mikan, I just don't want you to get hurt. The outside world is a painful place. I don't make much and we cant really do anything about dad." Rui-nii said sitting me on the bed.

"I cant really do much now that I have all these alice controllers. My alice grows with age. I'm only 15 and the academy overdid it with the devices. They're weighing me down. I do everything off of my alice." I said. He sighed.

"Fine." he said, lifting up my hand. He took off various of the rings that were my alice control devices, only leaving me with the one on my middle finger, my earrings that have two each, anklet that has six, armbands which are three, and bracelet that has one. I'm glad that weight is off.

"Thank you nii-chan." I said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. He looked agitated.

"You should leave before you put them back on me." I said. He got up and headed for the door.

"Mikan, just so you know, you can remove those devices on your own, but it takes a lot of force, and I want you to promise me only to remove them during emergencies." he said.

"I promise." I said with a smile and he walked out.

Meanwhile in Natsume's Room

I walked into my dorm and flicked on the light. It was the same as when I had left and I walked to my bedroom. I changed into my pajama pants until I felt a presence. Before I could speak, I was handcuffed and on the floor. Surrounding me were guards of the school and the elementary school principal.

"Fuck." I cursed under my breath. The elementary school principal smirked.

"Natsume, Natsume, Natsume." he started.

"What do you want?" I asked roughly.

"Didn't I tell you that you can never escape me? I'm just punishing you for taking away my new favorite student." he said.

"She's not your student. She's in middle school and she'll never be under your control." I said.

"Oh dear Natsume, did I forget to tell you that I own both positions, sharing the second with Hime?" he mocked me.

"She's too bright for you and you cant drag her down into the darkness like you did me. Her brother would never do the bidding that Persona did either." I said.

"Oh but I chose Rui because he was her brother. I knew eventually we would catch her, so I hired her brother. Rui is very weak against mind control alices." he said.

"If you have a damn mind control alice why not use it on her. It will save you a whole lot of trouble." I said.

"How stupid you are. She has the nullification alice, it wont work. She would never hurt her dear brother. And if she could, she has plenty of other weak family members I can kill until she bends to my will." he said.

"You devil. I wont let you." I said.

"It doesn't matter what you think you will do. Now let's get this punishment started." he said. Each guard pulled out a whip and began whipping me. After an hour of that, they began kicking and punching me. Then they began slicing me with knives, some digging deep and others not. And after an hour of that, they literally added salt to my wounds, but I wouldn't give them the pleasure of hearing me cry out in pain.

"Now don't you dare tell the girl about this, or we will be back. And the next time, she'll get hurt too." he said. The pulled the handcuffs off me and marched out. Getting up, I muttered many colorful words. Damn, shitty principal. I wouldn't have told her anyway. Who would? Just to have her run rabid because her only friend got injured because of her. Any person would be like that. I wonder if I really am her only friend. And I think she had some sort of bad childhood. Always getting sad and talking about the past with a distant look in her eyes. I'll find out in the future. Until my wounds heal I have to wear a shirt to sleep and jogging that isn't so tight and not white.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Next Morning Natsume's POV

I had my alarm clock set to 5:45 so that I would already be ready when she arrived. Right when I got out of the shower, I heard the knock on my door. I walked up and opened the door.

"Oh, you're already ready to go?" she said, making it sound as if I got all fancied up. I was just wearing sweats and a black shirt. I nodded.

"Two things. One, you should talk more. And two, hand me a towel." she said. I grabbed the towel that was around my neck. She gestured me to sit down on the seat of my counter.

"What are you gonna…?" I started to ask until I felt her rubbing the towel on my head.

"You could get sick if you have water on your head. It gets cold and then you get sick as if it were rain." she explained.

"And suddenly you're my mother?" I asked.

"No, but I'm your friend. If you get sick, it will be troublesome. My brother is ruthless with people other than my family so, he will still make you watch over me if you got sick. I take missions almost every night. I refuse to make you do a mission with me while you are sick." she explained.

"Whatever." I said, getting up and tossing the towel on the couch.

"Let's go." I said. She raised an eyebrow and then led the way. We did the two hour jog without delay, though I was still tired at the end while she was perfectly fine.

"Hyuuga, can you let me practice my aim? You place yourself against that tree and I'll aim this knife right above your head." she said. I nodded and placed myself against the tree. I had a wide open wound there so I couldn't help but wince a little. I don't know if she heard me, but whatever it was, she dropped her knife.

"Did I just hear you wince?" she asked.

"No." I answered.

"No, you winced." she said.

"You're hearing things." I said.

"I don't hear things. I have the best hearing around, and you winced." she said holding up a finger at me as if warning me.

"I didn'…" I started but she interrupted me.

"Don't lie to me, Hyuuga." she yelled. I could tell she was mad. She was not only yelling at me, but called my by my last name.

"I'm not lying." I said.

"Then take off your shirt." she said, looking down with a blush.

"I didn't know you thought of me that way." I teased.

"Hyuuga, I'm not playing with you. If nothing is wrong then you wouldn't have any problem doing it." she said in a serious voice, but still blushing and looking down.

"It's not necessary. It will just be a waste of time." I said. This girl really doesn't give up. She didn't say another word. Instead she stared straight at me.

"Then how do you explain those wounds on your chest?" she said.

"What wounds?" I asked, turning myself in a circle to look as if there was nothing there.

"I have an X-Ray alice." she said.

"You're seeing wrong." I said.

"Cant you see, Natsume. You can't fool me! Those wounds! Those wounds!" she said as my shirt burnt away.

"I just had to become friends with the one who could see through clothes." I mumbled.

"Yeah you did. Sit your ass down on the damn ground, right fucking now." she said, marching up to me and pointing to the ground. Knowing I really had no option, I crossed my legs and sat down.

"Out of all the fucking alices for me not to have, it just had to be a healing alice." she said.

"Don't use your alice, you'll hurt yourself." I said.

"No I wont. About half of my alice control devices have been removed. If you were injured, I would have never let you jog with me for two hours." she said. She actually sounded really upset. Before I could say anything, I was in the academy hospital on one of their beds. A nurse walked in and almost jumped back.

"I want him checked, now." Mikan said threateningly. The nurse shook out of control and immediately came over to check me.

"I'll call over Dr. Imai right now." the nurse told Mikan, rushing out.

"I'm going down to the counter. And now, there is a barrier around this hospital specifically for you. You will not be able to leave this hospital at all until the doctor is done. And don't even think that the barrier doesn't cover the window." she threatened me. She stormed out and her face pained me even more than before. She looked more upset than anything before. Upset and angry. How the fuck am I gonna deal with this? I have to guard this girl, but she's probably too upset to talk to me. Dr. Imai walked in. He went through the entire check up process and the nurse put ointment on my wounds but nothing else.

"You are recommended to stop by everyday so that we make sure those wounds are healing. And don't do any strenuous activity." he said.

"Finally, I can leave this place." I said, jumping out of the bed and putting on a spare shirt they had stored for me in case I got injured from a mission. I walked downstairs quickly to see if Mikan was still there. Instead, the minute I stepped out of the elevator, I was lifted off of my feet and glared at by her brother.

"Why the fuck was Mikan crying?" he asked, his voice with every intent on killing me.

"Ah crap, she was crying?" I asked. Just add salt to the wounds I already have, damn sensei.

"Yeah, she was. Would you like to tell me why?" he said, and I knew it wasn't a question.

"I'll tell you later. I have to find her before she goes anywhere. She got alice devices removed and I need to find her before she leaves the academy and if she leaves the academy. Then it will start another charade and she'll just get hurt even more." I said.

"When I see her again, she better be smiling damn it, or your head will not be attached to your neck and shoulders anymore." he threatened, letting go of my collar. I began walking quickly out of the hospital. But then there was Rui-sensei again.

"Oh no, you are not escaping my explanation." he said.

"Okay, so yesterday cuz I took Mikan out of the academy and we didn't get back until late. So they punished me and today during our jogging, she asked to practice aim with me. I had to lean up against a tree, but I winced because of a wound on my back. She asked me why I winced, I told her I didn't. She got mad, saw through my shirt, burnt my shirt, and teleported us to the hospital. And I mentioned that she got mad. I didn't expect her to cry or I wouldn't have lied. I just didn't want her worrying and I've gotta find her." I said quickly.

"I'll help you find her with one clue. She's not in the academy." he said.

"What do you mean she's not in the academy? How do you know?" I asked.

"Alice control devices keep track of people as long as they're in the academy. I would know if she were here. And plus, I saw her running towards the gates. But at that moment I was more worried about the fact that she was crying." he said.

"What?! If you saw her leaving and crying, you should have stopped and asked her what was wrong!" I yelled. I began running towards the gates. Instead of going directly through, though, I jumped over the wall. I knew exactly where to go to, and ran to the park. It took me half an hour to get there but at least she was there. She was on the swing crying. I slowly and quietly walked up to her.

"Mikan…" I started. Before giving me a chance to talk she began to yell.

"WHAT?! DID YOU COME HERE TO LIE TO ME AGAIN?! OR DO YOU JUST WANT TO SEE ME CRY?!" she yelled. Instead of answering I hugged her gently, not really knowing what to do since I've never worked with a girl.

"Mikan, I just didn't want you worrying. I'm your guard. You're not mine." I said.

"That doesn't mean shit! You're the only friend I damn have. I would at least think you could rely on me a little!" she said.

"Why does it affect you so much? I'm sure you've gone through lies before. It's one of the things that make people strong." I asked.

"Natsume, my whole life has been a lie. I never had a childhood. I've never had a friend. I can't spend time with my family whenever I want. And when the academy caught me, I thought, I might actually have a chance. I could pick one friend that I could rely on and could rely on me. I chose you to be my friend and the first thing you do is lie to me." she sobbed.

"Part of a friendship is forgiveness. I wont lie to you again, if I know it hurts you so much, but you have tell me about yourself. I don't know much about you and you don't know much about me." I said.

"Then, I guess you have to meet my family." she said, wiping away her tears.

"I'll meet your family, if that makes you happy and it will get you to forgive me." I said. She then jumped into my arms.

"Now as punishment, you have to carry me to my house." she said.

"God you're such a kid." I said.

"You always say that. Stop calling me a kid." she said, with a pout.

"Any guy in this world would think you were on your period." I said.

"Natsume! That is a girl thing!" she said, slapping my chest. I winced and she immediately apologized. I forgave her obviously and she told me the directions to her house. It took another 30 minutes of walking.

"Is this the place?" I asked looking at the place. It looked to be only one floor and pretty small. But at least there was a backyard I guess. I rang the doorbell. The door slammed open and then closed and I noticed Mikan wasn't in my arms anymore.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Riku! That is so rude! Open the door right now!" I heard Mikan scold. The door opened and I saw Mikan standing with one hand on her hip.

"Sorry, Natsume. That was my brother." she said.

"Brother? You have more than one?" I asked. She chuckled.

"Come in." she said. I walked in and the place wasn't anything more than what it was outside. There was a room filled with mattresses on the floor which I'm guessing is the living room, a small kitchen that can barely fit one person, a room with a big but weak table, a room filled with stuffed clothes connected to the living room, and a little room with a toilet and sink visible.

"Mikan's home!" I heard a girl call out. She walked towards the entrance. By now, Mikan was on the floor tackled by what seemed like millions of little kids.

"MIKAN!!!" they all yelled as they stampeded her.

"Hey everyone, how's it going?" she said, hugging all of them from the floor.

"Where have you been? It's been months!" a short girl said.

"I was around. Now let me get up so I can introduce you to my friend." Mikan said.

"Oh Mikan? What have I missed? You got a boyfriend already?" the girl that called out said.

"No! Why does everybody say that? Just because you bring a guy somewhere doesn't mean he has to be your boyfriend." Mikan said. Hey, I wouldn't mind trying it out. If everybody thinks that we look good together, though I'm not saying that out loud.

"Then what's he doing here?" the guy from before asked. He was standing far from the rest and he talked harshly.

"I'm gonna introduce him to all of you. Don't be such a meanie, Riku. If I bring somebody with me, it means I don't need protection from them because I would never bring danger to you guys." Mikan said. I looked around as everybody stood up.

"Everybody line up. Age order." Mikan said. Immediately the little kids scrambled to get in order as the older girl calmly walked to her place. The other guy stayed in his place.

"I'll be teleporting Rui-nii here. He's probably worried sick since I passed by him before." she said.

"Yeah, I don't know how he knew I was at the hospital, but he found me, grabbed me by the collar, and threatened to take my head off my neck and shoulders." I said. Mikan snapped her fingers and Rui-sensei appeared before us.

"Everybody's lining up in age order." Mikan said. Rui-sensei took a position.

"Okay, everybody this is Natsume Hyuuga. Rui-nii assigned him to protect me from any guys that go after me." Mikan said.

"From oldest to youngest it's Riku over there since he's twenty one, Mitsuki-nee is nineteen, Rui is eighteen even though he doesn't look it, I'm fifteen going on sixteen, Ryoma is twelve, Miyuki is eleven, Ritsu is eight, Midori is six, Ryu is five, Mayu is four, and the twins Ryo and Miyo are three." Mikan said.

"You live with eleven siblings?" I asked. She nodded.

"That's the thing. I don't live with my siblings." Mikan said.

Mikan's POV

God this is gonna be the hard part.

"Kids go play outside for a while. The day is nice to be outside." I said. Most ran out except for Mayu who tugged on my pants. I picked her up.

"What's up, Mayu?" I asked.

"Awe you gonna pway wit us?" she asked cutely.

"Of course. Just give me a second." I said. She got down and ran outside with the rest of the kids.

"Mitsuki, you got the twins right?" I asked. She nodded and walked to the living room. I followed behind and so did Natsume and Rui. I called to Riku from there and he came.

"Riku stop being a party pooper and sit on a mattress." I said as he leaned against a wall. He sat down on my mattress along with Rui most likely to "protect" me from Natsume. Mitsuki was on hers with the twins.

"Okay our family used to be normal. Not as normal as others but normal. We lived in a normal house with our mother and father. But one day the AAO killed my mother. My father was outraged that he didn't know about her having an alice, but let's backtrack a little here. First he was outraged that an entire third of the kids in our family were from her first love, her teacher at alice academy. That's Riku, Mitsuki, Rui, and me while he was in love with her. He managed to look past it for a while and continue with my mother and having the rest of the kids until she died. Problem was that my step father was gambler. A huge gambler, the damn idiot. And no matter how much he lost, he kept going back. He spent all of the funds and never worked in his life. Didn't go to college or anything. So what does he do? He leaves us. We were left without a house cuz he gambled too much cash. Mitsuki took care of the children for a while and Riku tried to find a job or something, but he had a bad reputation and was too young to get one. Rui wasn't any better since he was three years younger than now. I knew the rest of them couldn't do anything, and we didn't want them to know either, so I decided that I would take on the money responsibility. For 6 months I went around shamelessly stealing things and then selling them. Until I found out about my alice. I could see stones in people's bodies and knew immediately that it was not normal, that it had something to do with that alice shit my mother would talk about. She always talked about the older children having alices before bed or something but never in the presence of my father. At that point, I ran to a forest everyday after selling and began training myself. It was harsh, but I got the hang of it. I bruised and battered myself but I made it. Found out that my alice shape was unique. Mine is kind of like yours except no matter how much I use it, it will always be as if I had just started using my alice and tire me out extremely but if it's just a little bit, it won't take an effect on me. You got used to your alice and everything and now it's not so hard on you and only when you use a huge amount of fire is it. That's not the same for me, but again let's get back. So when I marched home after a month I was greeted by awe from my older siblings. They looked at me and only asked what happened to me. Instead of answering them, I took them to the backyard and told them about alices. And how alices should not be toyed around with. I told them to practice everyday, and they did. I practiced with them for alice as I practiced my combat. I was the best out of us seeing as I trained more." I said until Natsume paused me.

"Wait, you trained yourself to do everything you do now? And you trained your siblings?" he asked. I nodded.

"After I trained them enough for them not to risk the kids, I told them that I would be gone for a while and that I would send them money every month. They asked me on and on where I would find the money but I told them that they would find out when I returned. I had heard at a deli from some people I was eavesdropping on that there were pubs that had jobs for people with powers. I was guessing that they meant alices by power, and I was sure as hell glad that they were right. I traveled a lot looking for one damn pub. It took me a week to find one. I snuck in. There were tens and hundreds of men drinking and they all looked brutal as hell for me. I was only 11 so I really was afraid. I was hiding behind the bar counter waiting for the perfect moment until the bartender saw me and asked out loud who the hell brought a kid into the pub. He held me up by the collar to show everyone but no one claimed me. I saw that it was the perfect moment so I elbowed the guy hard with a strength alice I had collected and ran for the board. That shocked everybody but they still got up to try and catch me. Thank the lord I also had a speed alice and grabbed a job and scurried out of the place. When I knew I was safe and far from the people I looked at the paper. 2,000 dollars was the pay and I thought that was a hell of a lot, but trust me it wasn't. I went to the job location hotwiring a car and learning by the various times I've ridden a car and crashed it to get there. When they saw me, they said I could get killed. When I told them my alices and that I could use it, they hired me." I said before Natsume interrupted again.

"They hired an 11 year old for a mere pay of 2000?" he asked.

"No, I only got 500 because they thought I couldn't get the job done. It was retrieving data from a base. I managed with many minor injuries since I was much quicker but I brought it back home. I explained how I there were jobs at pubs and I could steal them. I took a week at home to recover but really spent it training myself so as not to end up with as many injuries the next time. I trained myself physically and practiced my alice separately. That's when I started waking up at 6 to run. I have a lot more stamina than anybody thinks. When I drove back to the pub it looks like all the people there thought I was dead. I walked right through the doors, no sneaking in at all. They were all like "Oh hey the kid's back. I'm surprised your not dead. Now we can pay you back for elbowing the master. You cant be serious about taking mercenary jobs.". To show them I was not playing I froze a man's inner and most important organs. He immediately fell from his seat dead. I asked them if I looked like I was playing and that I could do the same to them. None of them stood as I walked to the board. The master came out and told everybody to take me out, that I couldn't possibly take out all of them. So they listened and I killed all of them except one. Why I saved him, so that he could send the message not to mess with the young female mercenary. So I took all the papers on the board and walked out. I did all those jobs and began to send the money every month. I paid for everything. I pay for the kids education Mitsuki's and Riku's college fee each year, and the money for food and the rent of this house. That's why I have to do missions every night. And now with Alice Academy's fee too. My missions are dangerous and now that I've been in the mercenary business for about 3 or 4 years everybody knows who I am and nobody messes with me. I've been the top assassin for three years, got my Satan's Daughter nickname last year, and got the Million Alice Mercenary nickname two years ago. I get top payment everywhere. Last but not least, I don't know how, but my father manages to find me at some spot every year and I have to give him money. Just like when I was a kid. He would threaten me and ask me for stuff. I don't know if it was the fact that I looked like my mother the most or just that he didn't like me. But I cant hit him. No matter what I just don't find the will to hit him." I finished. Natsume breathed out. Out of no where he hugged me. My brothers pried him off a second later.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Riku asked harshly. I rolled my eyes.

"I told you I don't need protection from him. Besides, it was just a little hug." I said.

"Sorry, it was her eyes. She looked at me like that. With the sadness and the…" he started until he just dropped it and Mitsuki and I giggled.

"I know the place isn't much but feel free to stay the night. It's rare that Mikan comes home. I'll cook something good while she watches the kids." Mitsuki said. She handed me the twins.

"I'll contact the academy and tell them that you two are with me. Say something about you guys training in the wilderness or something. I'll be back tonight." Rui said, walking out of the door.

"Hey, if I carry the twins how am I gonna play with the rest of the kids? They've been watching me like begging puppies since I sent them out." I said.

"Sing the twins to sleep. You always pull it off. I cant sing for my life." Mitsuki called from the kitchen. I sang them a quick lullaby.

**You'll Be In My Heart- Phil Collins**

**Come stop your crying**

**It will be all right**

**Just take my hand **

**Hold it tight **

**I will protect you**

**from all around you**

**I will be here**

**Don't you cry **

**For one so small,**

**you seem so strong**

**My arms will hold you,**

**keep you safe and warm**

**This bond between us**

**Can't be broken**

**I will be here**

**Don't you cry **

**'Cause you'll be in my heart**

**Yes, you'll be in my heart**

**From this day on**

**Now and forever more **

**You'll be in my heart**

**No matter what they say**

**You'll be here in my heart, always **

"That song always puts them to bed." I said and then laid them down on a mattress. I walked out to the backyard where the kids were waiting for me, leaving Natsume inside with my older siblings.

Natsume's POV

Mikan left to play with her younger siblings, leaving me inside. Her older brother was still on the mattress staring me down.

"Is there a reason why you are staring me down?" I asked. He just got up and went to the window. I walked out of the living room and near the kitchen where Mikan's older sister was.

"Natsume, feel at home. You can go play with Mikan and the kids outside if you'd like." she said, moving around the kitchen and pulling things out from places.

"I'm not one to play too much. I just wanna know how this family works. The system seems more complex than how Mikan described it." I said.

"It's actually pretty simple just that Mikan's part is difficult. We leave all the stuff to the older siblings; me, Riku, Rui, and Mikan. If it were my choice I wouldn't have included Mikan, but we were desperate and knew that we needed all the help we could get. Our step father mis-treated her and never let her do anything fun. I'm guessing the anger about my mother's first love, he took out on Mikan because she looks just like our mother. But let's get off that. Basically I take care of the kids while Rui and Mikan work. Rui just got out of high school, so he just started working. Riku has a bad reputation so he was never able to find work or anything. He took to protecting all of the kids. They all attend the same school so he walks them there and back in case anybody jumps out and tries to steal them or something. He feels horrible about Mikan. Mikan was extremely close to me, Rui, and Riku when we were kids. And Mikan always approached him when he was alone and talked to him. Riku loved her a lot. So that being said, he hated the fact that he was the oldest but she had to be the one to work, but she was the one who offered. Mikan has always been close to the kids too. They adore her because she's so bright and happy around them. Ryoma takes from Riku a little in the sense that he solidifies himself sometimes and tries to protect the rest of the family, but he completely melts when he sees Mikan. And Miyuki helps me out because sometimes I feel overwhelmed and pass out. Mikan always has a smile on. She's always been the strongest out of us. She always tries to fix our problems and help us out. She even sends allowance to each of us every month and sends us gifts for our birthday. But I know better than to think she is truly happy all the time. Mikan wanted to have a childhood like the rest of us. She wanted to play in the park and play with dolls. Our step father just didn't let her. My mom couldn't do much either because she was constantly avoiding some organization. We never get the kids involved either. They know absolutely nothing about it. Absolutely nothing about alices." Mitsuki said.

"So she wasn't drunk when she wanted me to go to the park with her." I muttered. Mitsuki burst out laughing.

"What?" I asked. She let her laughter turn into giggles.

"Mikan's been drinking ever since she left this house. Even then she had the alcohol tolerance higher than anybody's. That's also how I found out that Mikan wasn't the same anymore. She doesn't like killing mercilessly. If it was her choice, she probably wouldn't, but we were never trained in anything else. She only knows how to use her alice. She had few life skills when she first left. But Riku and Rui don't know, so don't tell them." she said.

"Mikan doesn't look that way. She has a small frame but is incredibly strong. The way she takes to her siblings makes her seem like she has every skill a mother or sister should have." I said. Mitsuki's eyes softened on mine.

"What?" I asked again.

"Take care of my sister. I can tell she likes you very much." she said. I just let my bangs fall over my face to cover a small blush.

"Ahhh, how cute!" Mitsuki then said. I looked up right away at her mood swing.

"So, Natsume, do you plan on courting my sister? You have my permission. You guys would be a perfect couple." she said.

"I wouldn't let him." I heard the familiar harsh voice of Mikan's brother say.

"We're just friends anyway. I never had any plans on dating her." I said.

"Friendship can always bloom to love, little Natsume." she said.

"No, you will stay away from my sister." Riku said.

"Stop being a grouchy, over protective, meanie brother. If Mikan wants to date somebody then she can." Mitsuki said.

"No." Riku said. They started a glaring contest.

"I'm not gonna date her. I'm just her friend." I said.

"So have you taken her anywhere yet?" Mitsuki then asked, cutting off her glaring contest.

"It wasn't a date, but yesterday I took her to an amusement park and the park." I said.

"Wooh! Natsume, you scored! She's never been to an amusement park!" Mitsuki cheered. Her brother's glare was creeping me out so I decided just to leave and watch her play with the kids outside.

Later That Day Mikan's POV

I was walking around the house when I got an idea. I grabbed the box under the kitchen sink and walked to my mattress sitting myself down on it.

"Hey Natsume." I called. He was in the dining room. He walked over to me.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Take off your shirt." I said, not thinking anything of it at the moment. I noticed that Rui, Mitsuki, and Riku immediately snapped their heads towards me. Riku and Rui were giving Natsume a glare. He just rolled his eyes and pulled off his shirt. I gestured him to sit down and he sat right in front of me.

"They only put ointment on those wounds? They should have wrapped it." I said. He shrugged his shoulders and I would not admit how great it is to see his muscle flex.

"I copied a healing alice while I was at the hospital." I said. He nodded as I placed my hands on his back. There was a huge wound there across his entire back in a diagonal. He winced when my hands reached for it.

"Yeah, it's gonna sting a bit." I added. He nodded and I continued. After healing that I got up and sat in front of him. I was about to place my hand on his chest but I felt the rush come to me. I started coughing madly, and blood spilled onto my hand.

"Damn alice control devices." I muttered. Natsume held my back.

"Don't overdo yourself. You've been using your alice too much already." Natsume said.

"It's not me. It's these damn devices." I cursed. The kids aren't here at the moment. They are playing at the beach, so I'm free to talk anyway I would like.

"I'm not taking any more off of you." Rui-nii said.

"You shouldn't have to." Natsume said.

"But-but… you with the wound and…." I said until Natsume gave me a disciplining look.

"Fine, you fucker. But I'm gonna wrap you up and if you don't like it, I wont give a shit." I said. he shrugged at me and sat back properly. I began to wrap his chest with gauze. I made it extra tight just for telling me what to do.

"Do you really want me to not breathe?" he said as if nothing was wrong. I sighed and made the gauze less tight.

"There." I said.

"Thanks." he said as I got up. The feeling I got at that moment made me run out of the house. I looked around.

"Mikan, what's wrong?" Mitsuki asked, Riku and Rui along with Natsume coming out behind me.

"There's something wrong with the kids. We need to get to the beach now." I said. I began running towards the beach.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The others were right behind me. I arrived on the beach seeing AAO operatives chasing after my brothers and sisters.

"Fuckers." I cursed. I drew my hand up to use some sort of powerful attack but it was immediately pulled back down.

"You've used enough of your alice today and the kids don't need to see it at such tremendous proportions either. Leave this to me and your brother." Natsume said. He walked up front with Rui next to him. Riku grabbed my shoulder and began to lead me back.

"No! I'm not leaving until I see that everybody is fine." I said.

"Just move back a little then." Mitsuki said. She had the barrier alice so she obviously was trying to put a barrier around us. The kids ran to our location while Natsume and Rui began fighting the hordes of operatives.

"Are all of you okay?" I asked. They nodded but there were tears in each of their eyes.

"Don't worry nii-chan and Natsume will take care of this. They wont let them come after you. They're gonna fight for you." I assured them.

"And so will I…" I muttered.

"You're not going anywhere." Riku said. I sat back down with the kids waiting for anything. But it didn't seem like it would end. Neither Natsume nor Rui were using their alice because of the kids. But when both fell down to the ground I immediately shot up.

"That's it Riku! I'm going!" I yelled. He grabbed me again trying to hold me back as I struggled to get out of his grasp.

"Mikan, stop struggling! There's nothing we can do right now!" Mitsuki yelled, also trying to restrain me. I stopped struggling and stood still.

"I'm sorry to both of you. I'm sorry to all of you. They would eventually find out about alices somehow and I didn't want it to be this way." I said, my voice void of emotion.

"Nee-chan?" Mayu asked. I elbowed both Riku and Mitsuki in pressure points, and gently put them down on the floor as they passed out.

"Ryoma, watch over those two. And no matter what I do right now, know that even if you hate me after what you see, I will always love you guys." I said, creating a barrier, since Mitsuki passed out, and making it visible for the kids.

"None of you step out of this barrier or I will not be able to assure your safety." I said. Ryoma nodded as I walked onto the battle ground. Every operative that was still conscious looked at me.

"There she is! Get her!" one yelled. They all came charging at me. I scowled. I saw millions of alices come at me, but I nullified them all and they vanished from my sights. The operatives stopped.

"Did you really think you could win against me?" I asked icily and threateningly. They didn't answer.

"Did you really think I would let your hurt my family and friends?! Did you think I would forget my alices and not use them?!" I yelled, harshly my voice rivaling with that of Riku's, Natsume's or Rui's. Nobody answered

"You were tremendously wrong." I said. They began to turn around to run away but I used my speed alice to reach them.

"I'm gonna kill each fucking one of you a different way except one. And the one who I pity enough to let go will be the one that tells the damn AAO not to mess with my family or I will personally go to their base and take them out." I said. To threaten them even more, I yanked all of my alice devices off. They were scrambling in fear now. I then began the torture. To kill them I did things like freeze their organs, take the water out of their body, choke them with vines, drown them in water, and used almost every alice I had. I walked back to the barrier carrying both Natsume and Rui on one shoulder each. The kids kind of backed away in fear of me. In fear of the cold merciless look in my eyes that I get after killing.

"I know you're scared of me. I'll teleport you home. The barrier is already set around the house." I said and saw them vanish. Once they were gone I dropped to my knees and cried. My own family fears me. That's something I deserve. They had to suffer watching their role model kill mercilessly and not even give that single person a chance to live. I killed all of them. There was no messenger to the AAO. They were all dead. I began coughing out blood and so as not to be found, I teleported away.

Next Morning Natsume's POV

I woke up and found myself on a mattress in Mikan's house. The kids were sitting around and all of them looked upset, mad, and depressed. In the mattresses next to me were Mikan's older siblings all asleep. The minute I had that thought, though, they all came to. The kid Ryoma walked in front of our four mattresses in the aisle.

"What is going on? Somebody please tell me that was just a nightmare." Mitsuki said.

"Are you four like _her_?" Ryoma spat.

"Who the hell is _her_?" I asked in a bad mood.

"The merciless killer we used to call our sister." he answered.

"If we're like Mikan?" Mitsuki asked.

"Yeah, _her_." he said. His voice sounded so disgusted.

"Why are you saying calling her like that? Why aren't you saying her name? You sound so disgusted." Rui said, rubbing his head, trying to remember anything from last night most likely.

"Because that person is disgusting. She slaughtered people like a killer. I'm surprised she managed to hide her true nature this long. I want an explanation about this whole alice shit right now. I saw her use vines and water and everything to kill people. It left half of us here traumatized and you guys unconscious. And that disgusting shit is not gonna step foot in this house again." Ryoma said. That snapped my nerve and he looked stunned when I slapped him right across the face.

"Don't you think you're the disgusting one?! That's your sister! She is probably fucking coughing out blood and dying because she protected you yesterday! You know how much energy it takes for her to do that with devices on! If she took out the entire group of operatives she even probably took them off! You know this house you live in wasn't free! It needs to be paid every month so that you aren't left homeless! Do you think anybody enjoys killing?! She had to train herself for years! Years, she trained to be able to get to a place where she would get enough money for you guys to live off of. And your father still manages to torture her every year and steal money that should be hers. That school you go to, the food you eat! She sends in the money! When I met her, nobody screwed around with her! It's already horrible enough that people refuse to talk to her because she is known for being strong! Then her fucking brother shuns her off! She talks about you guys so kindly! But all she ever really wanted was her own childhood! She hadn't been to a fucking amusement park in her entire life! She's turning 16 next month! How do you think she feels?! Oh yeah, you wouldn't know because you don't have to kill to feed a family. You don't wake up at six in the morning everyday to jog somewhere. She hasn't talked about anything to you guys so that you could go on with your lives not suspecting much and having fun. I have no doubt that you guys have gone on vacation before! She doesn't go on vacations! She goes on dangerous missions every night! If you think she's disgusting you're atrocious, or even worse." I yelled. I ran out of the house to begin looking for Mikan.

Mitsuki's POV

I was shocked at Natsume's words and when he smacked Ryoma. Ryoma looked even more traumatized at the moment than the rest of the kids who were just in a corner huddling together wondering what will happen next. I silently stood up from the mattress walked to the kitchen and got an icepack. I placed it on his cheek where Natsume slapped him. Riku and Rui got up and headed towards the door.

"Mitsuki, you handle them. Riku and I will help Natsume look for her. Without her alice control devices we don't know how bad she can be, or where." Rui said. I nodded as they walked out the door. I turned back to Ryoma. Instead, it wasn't just Ryoma, though, it was all of the kids and even the twins.

"Mitsuki-nee, is Mikan-nee-chan okay?" Mayu asked. I turned my head away as I held the pack to Ryoma's still swelling face.

"I don't know. Even if she is okay outside, she is probably really hurt on the heart." I said. It's hard to explain this to a four year old. Even if Mikan isn't hurt physically, though she probably is, I don't doubt that she is hurt emotionally. Ryoma pulled my hand down from his cheek.

"Explain." he demanded

"Mikan has an alice, like me, Riku, Rui, and Natsume. But alices come in different forms. Her alices are incredibly strong which is why if she uses it to much, she gets hurt physically. It shortens her lifespan and gives her bruises or it can even make her leave us forever." I said knowing that he knew what I meant by leaving. After explaining it to him, he had a tear in his eye. He hasn't cried in years taking after Riku.

"I want my onee-chan." he began to sob. The rest of them joined in as I hugged them all trying to convince them that Mikan was okay, but the tears streaming down my face weren't helping at all.

Natsume's POV

That disgusting kid. Turning his back on his sister and not even looking at her side of the story. He's lucky I didn't kill him. I ran onto beach to see if she passed out there or something. Instead I found evidence of worst case scenario. Every alice control device she had on when we arrived there was in the sand. I picked them all up and put them in my pocket. I ran off the beach looking for a park or something. But the only parks I found were abandoned. I saw Rui and Riku searching stores and forests. We agreed to meet back by the beach in an hour. The hour passed with no Mikan so I arrived at the beach. Riku and Rui were already there and Mikan was not seen with either of them. I sat myself on the ground and gripped my head. I could tell Rui and Riku were looking at me but I ignored them.

"Where the fuck is this girl?!" I yelled, aggravated.

"We'll head back just in case she decides to head home today." Rui said. Both of them began to walk away, leaving me on the sand. I continued to look around the town. When night came I still hadn't found her. It began to rain and the water just made me more frustrated. It's fucking 11 at night, it's raining, and I cant find the girl I have a crush on! Damn! Am I always gonna be cursed to live a horrible life?! I continued looking around. At 12 I decided it would do me no good to wander around in the rain and dark where I cant see anything and decided to sleep in a cove on the beach that I saw but never went in. I walked there and the first thing I saw was Mikan's body laying limp on the ground. Of course she couldn't get far if she had used all her alices. I should have checked here first. I threw myself on the ground and checked her pulse. It was faint but there. I felt her temperature and she was burning up. She was shivering too. Picking her up in my arms bridal style I began to run to the house. I slowed down when it was in sight and so as not to wake anybody, I stepped in quietly. Everybody was asleep on their own mattress so I walked to kitchen and found a cloth. Wetting it with water I found in a bucket I laid her down on the only available mattress and placed it down on her forehead. I couldn't find any blankets so I laid myself down next to her knowing that since I had the fire alice I would be warm. As soon as I put an arm over her waist, her shivering slowed down. I tried to stay awake the whole night in case she wakes up.

Next Morning Mitsuki's POV

I woke up to begin getting breakfast ready. Not even looking around I walked to the kitchen and began making food for the family. I hope they find Mikan today. When Riku and Rui came home they still hadn't found her and I sent them to sleep. Once the breakfast was done I turned around to put the food on the table but almost dropped the food. Mikan was lying on her mattress and Hyuuga was sharing it with her. They looked like they were snuggling and cuddling! I put the food down on the table lightly, so that the plate wouldn't wake anybody. I walked over to Rui and Riku's mattresses. They were conveniently place right across from each other. I bent down in the aisle between the mattresses.

"She's back. Don't kill anybody." I whispered. Both brothers shot up and looked over at the only available mattress we had left last night. They looked like they were ready to kill.

"Don't do anything. He most likely brought her back. That was the only empty mattress and they would have had to share it." I whispered. They still looked pissed off. The kids started slowly waking up. I gestured all of them to keep quiet and gave them their breakfast. During the middle of eating Hyuuga got up and didn't say a word, took the cloth off of Mikan's head, walked to the kitchen, wet it, and walked back to place it on Mikan's forehead again. He sat on ground next to her and didn't talk at all. Seeing how much he cared for my sister almost brought tears to my eyes. I was about to get up and ask him where he found her until I heard something go off. It sounded like a cell phone and saw Natsume pull one out.

Natsume's POV

My phone rang and got me out of my depressed state for second.

"_Hello?" I said_

"_Hi, Natsume. It's me Ruka." Ruka said through the phone line._

"_Hey. What do you need?" I said, my voice clear of the depression I felt inside._

"_Well, I just flew in from France. I'm attending Gakuen Alice with you. Your mom said you could pick me up because she was told you were out of the academy for a while." he said._

"_Bad timing, but the airport isn't too far by motorcycle or car. If you don't mind not directly going to the academy." I said._

"_Sure, I don't mind, but…" he said before I hung up._

I stood up from my position and walked to the kitchen where Mikan's family was.

"Something came up and I have to go to the airport. I'll be back soon though." I said. They nodded. I pointed to Mikan's older sister.

"I want you to be the only one near that mattress. The cloth dries up quickly so you have to wet it about every 10 to 15 minutes. She has a high fever and low pulse." I told her. I pointed to her bratty little brother, Ryoma.

"Stay away from her." I said, venom stinging out of my voice. He had a small look of fear and depression for a second but I paid no mind to it and walked towards the door. Just short of the door I turned to the three oldest siblings, but more specifically Rui and Riku. That's when I noticed that everything was in age order; the seating arrangement, the mattress order, but shook the thought out of my head.

"You guys have a car?" I asked. Riku shook his head.

"We don't have a car?" Miyuki asked.

"Don't be mean, Riku." Mitsuki started. I was confused about what they were trying to say. Do they have a car or not?

"Mikan taught him how to hotwire a car and how to drive. She also bought him one for his twenty first birthday. I don't know what kind of bat cave he puts it in though. Get it for Natsume." Mitsuki said. Riku shook his head again. His face was straight and showed no emotion, meaning he wasn't gonna budge.

"Riku, Natsume has made Mikan very happy now. You know how she would just stop and rest for a bit before leaving right away. And think of it as a thank you. Natsume, while you and everybody else was sleeping, was looking outside for _our sister. _And he found her and took care of her for the night." Mitsuki said. Something shot at my face which I caught and looked at. Car keys.

"Around the corner in the middle of the small forest." he said. He sounded grumpy and pissed.

"I wont get a scratch on it." I said as I walked out. I drove down the airport and looked for the terminal from France. There I saw one person waiting on the chairs.

"Ruka." I said. He turned around.

"Hey Natsume, mate. You've grown taller. Stronger too I guess." Ruka said.

"I'm guessing you're the same, except for the stronger. You're still pretty flimsy." I said. He smiled at me and then it dropped to a frown.

"Are you pissed off that you had to pick me up?" he asked, moving around to see any emotion in my eyes.

"No I'm glad and happy. It's just that, there's a lot on my mind." I said.

"And that is…?" he asked.

"I'll explain in the car. The quicker I get back the better." I said. I led him to the car.

"I thought you had a motorcycle?" he asked.

"My motorcycle is at the academy. I borrowed this car." I said, getting in.

"Okay, so what's so serious that you cant even greet me properly." Ruka asked.

"I met this girl and…" I started until Ruka interrupted me.

"So this is about a girl? Do you like her?" Ruka interrupted.

"Yes, no and you know something like that wouldn't bother me. Well I visited her yesterday but her siblings got attacked by the AAO. Her brother and I got taken out and she killed every last one of them without her devices on. The next morning I find out she's missing and that her brother is badmouthing her and run out to find her. I found her and took care of her. You called me and so I left but I don't want her near that brother of hers." I said.

"She sounds troublesome." Ruka said.

"Yeah, but she's one of a kind. This girl is feared by my dad's entire pub and after working there she asked me to take her to the park." I said with a smile on my face as I drove.

"Are you sure you don't like her?" he asked.

"You know what, Ruka? I'm not sure. Let's drop the topic though. We're here." I said.

"Here where? This is a shack." he said.

"Don't say that in front of them. I know you are way more polite then me." I said. He nodded carrying his bunny in hand. I walked through the doors and saw each person on their mattress. I tossed Riku his car keys.

"It's out front." I said. Rui rolled his eyes.

"Another boy? Listen Hyuuga, I better not see my sister crying because she gets gang banged in the future." he said.

"I wouldn't do that. You assigned me to protect her not destroy." I said. Mitsuki stood up from her spot next to Mikan.

"Guys leave Natsume alone. He's already proved himself to be a great guy." Mitsuki started as I took her spot.

"Everybody, this is my childhood and best friend Ruka Nogi from France." I said. He walked over to Mitsuki and kissed her hand gently while she just giggled madly. He did the same to all the little girls and they did the same. Riku grabbed him and pulled him back giving Ruka a glare. Ruka stepped back in fear.

"Despite his looks, I don't think he'll hurt anybody." I said to Ruka to assure him that the house was safe.

"So this is the girl?" he asked walking up to me. I nodded.

"Mikan Sakura. I don't think she's gonna wake up too soon." I said. What I said had filled my heart with sadness but it had to be said.

"Mikan is tough enough to make it through this. She still has a pulse. She'll go on." Rui said. Ruka was looking around like thinking what hell was going on.

"I'll make quick introduction. From youngest to oldest are the twins Miyo and Ryo, Mayu, Ryu, Midori, Ritsu, Miyuki, Ryoma, Mikan, Rui-sensei, Mitsuki, and Riku. They're all her siblings." I said, pointing to each as I said their name.

"Well you sure picked a girl to find interest in." he said. Rui, Riku, and I all gave him a sharp look. Rui as if saying "what's that supposed to mean?". Riku as if saying "what interest are you talking about?". And I just sent him a glance that told him shut-the-fuck-up-her-older-brothers-already-hate-me. Turning back to Mikan, I changed the cloth on her forehead.

"Well Ruka, any friend of Mikan's is a friend of ours. And any friend of Mikan's friends is our friend as well. I'll find a few blankets" Mitsuki said.

"Not us." Rui and Riku said to the friend comment.

"Is it me or do they hate me already?" Ruka whispered in my ear.

"They're just over-protective. The family's gone through a lot." I whispered back.

"Hey, no whispering!" Ryoma called from far away. I gave him a glare and looked at Mikan for a sec. I checked her pulse.

"At least her pulse and fever are getting better. Yesterday I couldn't find the blankets and had to sleep with her." I said. Miyuki shot up.

"You slept with my sister?! She's too young for such womanly things!" she said.

"I don't mean like that. She was shivering. Since I have the fire alice, my body is always warm." I explained.

"Wat's wong wit her sweeping wit him? I sweep wit nee-chan." Mayu asked.

"You'll find out when you're older." Miyuki said, ending the subject. I rolled my eyes and looked to Mitsuki.

"What do you teach this girl?" I asked.

"I didn't want her to get tricked into things in the future." she answered. I didn't say anything.

"Well look at the time! 2:00. Looks like it's time to cook dinner!" Mitsuki said, rushing to the kitchen. Mikan didn't wake up for the day.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

A Week Later 4:00 AM Natsume's POV Still

I woke up hearing a groan. Riku and Rui assured that I had slept on the ground tonight and that Mikan had plenty of blankets. I sat up and looked around. My sight was a blur at first but as soon as it cleared up, the figure of Mikan walking towards the door was clearly evident. She was wobbling and looked as if she was ready to fall to the ground. She was bracing herself with the walls but still managing to slip a little. I got up and grabbed her hand. She slowly turned around.

"Where do you think you're going?" I asked.

"Let me go, Natsume." Mikan said.

"You're not leaving. You have a high fever and you are practically about to collapse right now." I whispered.

"No, I'm not. I'm just going outside for fresh air." she whispered. I knew she was lying. She would leave or teleport somewhere.

"If you need fresh air, there is a window in every room." I whispered. She looked irritated with me.

"I need to go. What's the point in me staying here? I strike fear in my own family members. I have missions to do. The kids can't find out." she whispered.

"Two things. You're not very convincing. And I already blew your cover a long time ago." I said.

"What?" she half said, half whispered.

"Stay and I'll tell you." I whispered. She sucked her teeth at me.

"You are such a bother. Fine, but when I say leave, we leave." she said walking back to her mattress. After she lied down, I took my position on the floor next to her.

"You're sleeping on the floor?" she asked me in a whisper.

"Your brothers made sure of it. The other night you were shivering and I couldn't find the blankets so I had to sleep next to you to keep you warm." I explained.

"Oh. Thanks. To make up for it, come over here. You can sleep on this mattress." she offered. I shook my head.

"Fine then. I'll sleep on the floor with you." she said rolling off the mattress onto the floor.

"You are so stubborn." I said getting up and lying down on the mattress. She did the same and I tossed the blanket over us. With that, she was out cold. I watched happily as she slept, with relief that she was gonna be okay.

Mitsuki's POV Next Morning

I got up and looked towards Mikan. Natsume is sharing the bed with Mikan again. They look so cute. Natsume sleeps so peacefully but at the same time he looks protective with his arm resting on her waist. And Mikan always looks so comfortable with him, snuggling up to his chest. They should just get married already. Rui and Riku are gonna be pissed when they wake up. I saw heads popping up at that thought. All the kids were awake by now and I was holding back a fuming Rui and Riku.

"I'm gonna kill him. We specifically told him to stay on the floor." Riku said.

"No! Come on! You're gonna wake them up. They look so cute together!" I whined, keeping them back.

"Exactly why we need to kill him." Rui said. We heard a shhh coming from the mattress and I turned to look at it. Mikan was sitting up holding a finger to silence us.

"Nee-chan!" all of the kids screamed. I was surprised when Natsume didn't wake up. Mikan quieted them again.

"Who found me?" Mikan asked.

"Natsume brought you here at about 1 in the morning a week ago. He took care of you until now and none of us know where he found you." I answered. She looked towards Natsume with soft eyes. After passing her hand through his hair a little, she turned back to us, or at least the kids.

"I'm guessing your scared of me by now. You have every right to hate me. I'll be leaving as soon as Natsume wakes up to get out of your way." she said.

"Don't leave. We don't hate you." the kids said. She shhhed them again. Mikan held out her arms.

"If you really mean it, each of you will give me a hug from youngest to oldest." Mikan said with a goofy smile. She got her hugs, one from each child, except for Ryoma. When Ryoma approached, flames surrounded Mikan's mattress and everybody backed up. Mikan turned to Natsume.

"Put that fire out right now. What are you thinking?" she asked. The fire died down.

"He doesn't deserve a hug from you." Natsume said, pulling Mikan closer to him and away from Ryoma.

"What do you mean he doesn't deserve…" Mikan started until she was interrupted.

"What's all the commotion?" Ruka asked. I turned to Mikan, ignoring Ruka.

"Explanations, now." Mikan demanded.

Mikan's POV

I demanded explanations right away. Natsume stood up from the mattress and walked over to the blonde boy.

"This is my best and childhood friend Ruka Nogi from France." Natsume introduced. I smiled at the boy.

"Mikan Sakura. Nice to meet you. Any friend of Natsume's is a friend of mine." I said. The boy smiled, took my hand, and kissed it.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well Mikan, if I may call you that." Ruka said. I giggled a little and nodded. I was gonna strike up a conversation with the boy about Natsume but the said person pulled him away.

Natsume's POV

Ruka smirked as I pulled him away.

"Mine." I said, when we were finally out of her hearing range.

"Natsume my mate, this girl has got you head over heels in love with her if you're getting jealous of me." Ruka said.

"She does not. She's interesting but I don't have to like her or love her." I said. Ruka rolled his eyes and walked back in the direction of the rest of them.

"Okay Natsume, so how exactly did everything play out from the moment I teleported everybody here?" Mikan asked.

"Well we woke up and the kids were already up in a corner. Ryoma said some pretty nasty things about you that pissed me off so I slapped him…" I said until she interrupted me.

"YOU SLAPPED HIM?! Natsume, you shouldn't do that to the kid!!!" Mikan scolded me.

"It's okay nee-chan. I deserved it. I did say some pretty bad things." Ryoma said. Mikan looked at him for a second and then back at me, nodding me to continue.

"SO I looked for you for a while until I saw Rui-sensei and Riku. We agreed to look and meet in an hour. So after the hour was up we still hadn't found you, so they headed home in case you got there. I stayed out until 12 o' clock looking for you, in the rain. That's when I decided sleep in the cove by the corner of the beach. And there you were. So I took you here, placed you on a mattress, put a cloth on your head and watched you for a while. Then I noticed you were shivering so I decided, since I couldn't find the blankets I would have to use my body warmth to keep you warm. And yeah, the rest isn't important." I said.

"Thank you Natsume. I know how much you hate the rain. And it was probably hard looking for somebody in the dark." she said. She hugged me for a second, rubbing her cheek against mine and then backed away. I kind of missed her warmth.

"You will never do that again." Riku told Mikan.

"I will do whatever I please." Mikan said, turning her head away with a cute pout and her arms crossed.

"Well, now that everything is back to normal. What are we gonna do?" Mitsuki said.

"Actually, I have something planned. Just let me get to some sort of public computer. I left some gifts in the backyard by the way. Feel free to open them. I am kind of booked this year so I know I wont be able to make it for all of your birthdays. But I will try and call or something." Mikan said. She began walking out the door and I followed behind her. Instead of going to a computer place, she went to a phone booth in the middle of the street. She held a finger for me to wait and entered.

Mikan's POV

I dialed the number of a person I had been working for, for a long time. He's a business tycoon who is absolutely despicable. Any person that might get in the way of his business he hires somebody to kill them. He specifically likes to post jobs for me with my nickname on it, so I know. How he locates me, I don't know. But he always manages to find me. And he said that if I ever need money or a favor to come to him. Half of the money he has received comes from me killing people that got in his way.

"_Hello. Who is this?" I heard his low voice say. Probably answered that way because he doesn't recognize the number._

"_It's Mikan, Raiden. You know, your assassin?" I said._

"_Oh Mikan! How are you? Is there anything I can do for you? I don't remember hiring you at the moment for any kills." he said. His voice was obviously sarcastic. Probably because he knows I don't like killing. _

"_Yes actually. I'm in the suburban part of Tokyo at the moment. I would love it if you could set me up in one of your Hokkaido hotels. You know that one near the forest and beach the time you sent me to kill the head of Tetsu Corp." I said._

"_Mikan, that is a very busy hotel." he said. His voice was still sarcastic as if he was playing me. I don't like to be played._

"_Well, you will make the penthouse suite available for me and 13 others whether someone is there or not and whether the hotel is busy or not. Remember the fact that it is not easy to get assassins who can pull off getting through the amount of guards those company heads have. And one word to the press could really hurt you." I said in the same voice as him._

"_You bitch. I'll have it ready… done. The preparations are set. There will be no limo to pick you up in our Tokyo rendezvous spot, though." he said._

"_It was nice doing business with you, Matsumoto. I'll see you the next time you need someone dead." I said._

I stepped out of the phone booth knowing that Natsume hadn't heard a thing from our conversation.

"Well everything's set. Let's head back." I said, leading the way to the house. He looked confused.

"Weren't you gonna use a computer or something or do you have one at your house that I don't know about?" Natsume asked.

"No I don't have one at home, but I realized that using the phone would be quicker. Since I don't have a cell, I knew I would have to use the public phone booth." she explained. We arrived at the house not long after. Riku was plugging a tv into the wall and onto the floor. Most of the boys were holding boxes of videogames while Ryoma was holding what I guess was the system. The younger girls were holding dolls and playing around with them near a huge doll house. Mitsuki was on a computer in the corner of the dining room. Miyuki was placed at a mini kitchen for herself.

"Mikan-nee!" the kids said, dropping everything and went running to hug her. I walked over to Mitsuki for a sec.

"Can you watch over Mikan? I have to do something." I said. She nodded and I walked out of the house to run my errand.

Mikan's POV

I was tackled down by all the kids.

"Mikan-nee!" they yelled.

"Hey. You guys seem happy with your gifts. I mean, you tackled me to the floor twice now." I said. Mitsuki-nee, Rui-nii, and Riku-nii walked up to me and helped me off the floor.

"Thank you for the computer." Mitsuki-nee said giving me a hug.

"Thank you for the motorcycle." Rui-nii said giving me a rare smile.

"Thanks for the flat screen." Riku said, looking away with his arms crossed. I jumped onto him in a hug.

"Ah, come one Riku-nii. You know you love me. A kiss on the cheek will express all your love to me!" I said. He pecked my cheeked and I got off him.

"Thank you." I said. Ryoma was plugging in the playstation three I bought the boys by now. The boys were all eager to play their games. The flat screen was hooked up to the wall and Riku was sitting on his mattress watching sports. Mitsuki walked to the computer I bought her. The girls began playing with their dolls and such. I just walked over to the corner and watched them enjoying themselves with a smile.

Two Hours Later Mikan's POV

Natsume arrived already and by now I was tired of watching everybody use their stuff. I walked to the kitchen. I've never gotten a gift. I've done everything on my own. That's why I haven't brought Natsume on missions. And I'm just not used to somebody helping me. It would be nice to get a gift once a while though. My family cant get me one because they don't have jobs and need to spend their money and things wisely. And I just cant, too tight of a budget. I sighed and then felt my back being poked by something. I turned around and looked at Natsume. In his hand was a gift nicely wrapped.

"What's this?" I asked.

"It's your birthday this month isn't it? I was waiting for the right time to give it to you. I got it while I was gone. It takes a hell of a long time to find a store that sells those things around here. Besides, everybody else was getting a gift, you deserved one too." he said. I giggled and walked to the dining room. I sat there looking at it for a second. My first present. Not even from somebody in the family but from Natsume my friend and guard.

"What are you doing just looking at it? Open it. It took me a whole hour to find it and another to wrap neatly and get the bow and everything on it." he said. I broke out laughing while his face was just agitated. My entire family was staring at us.

"Really Natsume? An hour?" I asked through my laughs. I could tell he was bothered.

"If you don't want it I'll just take it back." he said.

"No!" I said, immediately. He looked taken back.

"It's the first gift I've ever had." I explained calmly now. He nodded and I opened it carefully so as not to mess up the wrapping he did. There was a large sized box, taped shut. Pulling off the tape, I reached in and felt another smaller box. I pulled it out and it seemed to be the box of cute pink cell phone, a Verizon LG Venus

(http://I m g 2 2 5 . i m a g e s h a c k . u s / i m g 2 2 5 / 9 0 0 4 / l g v e n u s b l a c k p I n k I r 8 . j p g ).

It had a small black cat charm on it and it was so cute.

"Ah thank you!" I said.

"There's more inside that box." he said. I reached in the large box again. Whatever the thing was, it was large and had plenty of wires, besides the other smaller box that was in there. I pulled out the larger thing first. It was a medium pink laptop that said Vaio on top. When I opened it up the screen was black, the keyboard was silver, and under the mouse was the saying "I am not afraid… I was born to do this."

(h t t p : / / m y p i n k l a p t o p s . c o m /). **you have to scroll a bit**

It was so beautiful. I pulled out the wires for the laptop. I finally reached for the last small box. It was blank on the cover so I opened it up. Inside was a flat silver digital camera, a light pink shade with no buttons

(h t t p : / / w w w . s o n y s t y l e . c o m / w c s s t o r e / S o n y S t y l e S t o r e f r o n t A s s e t S t o r e / I m g / 7 1 8 x 4 0 7 / D S C T 7 7 P . p n g ).

**I know those are a lot of links and I'm glad if you took the time to take out the spaces and look at them. There are a lot more to come too. )**

The battery and memory stick and stuff weren't already inside the camera so I placed them in. I turned it on and it was touch screen! I now had tears in my eyes.

"I didn't know if I overdid it on the pink but I remember you telling me one day that it was your favorite color." Natsume said. I wiped my tears.

"Natsume, everything is perfect!" I said standing up from my chair and placing a peck on his cheek and hugging him. It was a quick hug so that my brothers wouldn't slaughter him.

Natsume's POV

"Well, good that you like it. Feel free to start using them now." I said, walking away before she could see my blush. As I walked out of the house I heard Ruka's footsteps. When I stopped he reached me.

"Ooh, how do you feel about that kiss, Natsume?" he asked in a fancy tone.

"Oh wait you don't need to answer that! I can clearly see the blush on your face!" he said in snobbish tone.

"If you're gonna rub it in my face than I might as well get it over with. So maybe I do like her a little bit. Just stop talking about it. And it was just a little kiss." I said, irritated with the bother he is giving me lately.

"Well now that you have finally admitted it, I will stop bothering you. Though I cant help it if a little tease comes up every once in a while. And Natsume, it's not just a little kiss." he said.

"Oh shut up. You have a stoic money making ice queen for a girlfriend. If you have anything to complain about, I don't want to hear it." I said.

"Hey, I'm not complaining. I'm glad you're gonna find someone you love. You're kinda like me and Hotaru anyway. She's cold and stoic, you're cold and stoic. I'm kind and cheerful. Mikan's kind and cheerful. Opposites attract Natsume, opposites attract." he said. I rolled my eyes at him and began into the house.

"Natsume this laptop is perfect! It even has a password to get in, in case anybody steals it. I doubt anyone can guess my password." Mikan said with a wide smile.

"I seriously owe you, Natsume. Now that's two things. If you ever need something, feel free to ask me." she said. I nodded and walked over to the mattresses and sat on Mikan's. The rest of the day and night went fine. I slept on the floor next to Rui and Riku because they didn't want any chance of me sleeping with Mikan though I, at least tried to assure them that I wouldn't and that I was just her friend.

Next Day Mikan's POV

Everybody sat in the living slash bedroom for breakfast. I finished first and tapped my spoon on my plate to get their attention. All turned to me.

"Okay everybody. I have a little announcement. Since I probably wont be able to see you guys for the rest of the year, I decided we could take vacation together. The day after tomorrow we're leaving. Pack your things tomorrow while me, Natsume, and Ruka go to the academy." I said.

"Where are we going?" Mitsuki asked eagerly.

"One of the top hotels in Hokkaido. Beach out back and a beautiful exotic forest to the left of it. The hotel owns both areas and the beach is public to the customers." I explained. Everybody became eager and began talking about it. Natsume walked over to me from the blankets Natsume and Ruka were sitting on while Ruka followed behind with his bunny.

"How did you afford one of the top hotels in Hokkaido?" Natsume asked, lowering my voice so that nobody will hear and ask as well.

"Let's just say that missions and assassination have some strings attached sometimes. Though I do hate communicating with those people. They're all damn heartless bastards." I said with disgust at the end.

"One likes to attach a camera to me and watch me kill everyone." I added.

"That's horrible." Ruka said.

"I know, but whatever. I don't mean to bring you down or anything Ruka-pyon. You know, I haven't talked to you too much during this time. What was living in France like? What was Natsume like as a kid? Was he one of those eager let's do everything kids. Or one of those let's explore kids." I asked. Ruka gave a chuckle.

"You sure can change a dreaded mood to a good one. Anyway, France is great even though I missed Japan plenty. Natsume was pretty much the same. Except I think he changed very much when you came around. He used to only say "Hn" "Whatever". Now I actually hear him say full sentences." Ruka said.

"Well it's great that I made him more social. Being around me and my family, you can't help but be social. There are too many people to just stay quiet and in a corner all the time. I think only Riku can do that, but even he talks to me sometimes. And I should talk to him now, seeing as he hasn't talked too much the entire time I was here." I said. I stood up and walked to Riku in the corner.

"What you don't like your gift?" I asked.

"It's fine." he said.

"Oh, Riku, don't be such a party pooper. Come on, let's walk, you and me." I said. He didn't budge from his spot by the window.

"Riku, I dragged Natsume all around an amusement park. I can drag you too." I said. He still didn't move.

"Fine, we're just gonna have to do this the harsh way." I said. I turned him around, grabbed his sweater hood and began dragging him out of the house.

"We'll be back later." I called walking out.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Riku didn't say anything. He just let me drag him while he had his arms crossed. When we arrived at the park, which didn't have swings and stuff, I let him walk by himself.

"Riku, have you become anymore social while I was gone?" I asked. I received no answer knowing it meant no.

"Riku! I want you to talk to people. You're gonna be twenty two and you haven't had a girlfriend yet. You are probably the most handsome guy in the entire college. Look at yourself. I'm sure that they don't even know about the accident. What time do they have to wonder about everybody's personal life?" I said. He didn't answer.

"Riku, you don't have to be so unsocial. I know you don't like what happened before and the sacrifices wee had to make, but you don't have to separate yourself from the world for that. You know it wasn't your fault completely with what happened before. He wanted you to shoot him and you wouldn't do it. He took your hand and did it. That guy was just there at the wrong time. He didn't know what happened. He didn't let you explain. But that doesn't matter at all. And that I have to work doesn't matter either!" I said.

"Listen Mikan, it's not just that. You spend your life having to kill to give us what we need to be like a normal family but you cant even afford things to yourself. You cant tell me that you have all the clothes that a regular girl has. You didn't even have a cell phone until today." he said. I pulled him towards a more private area of the park.

"I don't give a fuck! I will kill, I will bake, I will clean, I will do whatever the fuck I have to! My family is all that matters to me! So I didn't have a cell phone or anything that a normal girl has! It doesn't matter." I yelled.

"It's not about that! I should be the one working! It's all because of that stupid accident that I couldn't work! You were so damn bright despite everything that our damn step dad did! And after all the work you've had to do, I can tell your smiles are fake sometimes!" he yelled at me.

"Riku, if you were in my position and I were in yours, what would you do? I offered to do the work. I didn't take no for an answer. You had no choice. Why cant you just continue on like Rui and Mitsuki?" I asked, lowering my voice now deciding to end the yelling before somebody heard us.

"Because I'm not Rui and Mitsuki. I didn't want you to god damn be burdened with things that I should be doing. Until I find a job and all the weight is off your shoulders I wont be happy. I wont bother to talk to anyone else. I'll just worry about watching over the family until it's over." he said, lowering his voice as well. I did what he wouldn't guess I would do. I slapped him straight across the cheek, hard enough that he would land on the floor.

"Listen to me and get it through your thick skull Riku. You are going to fucking move on in life. What happened before is over. You see my fake smiles, make them fucking real then! If you want to see my real smile, the one like before when I was an ignorant child and didn't know how to kill, when everything in the world was bright even if my stepfather beat me, I suggest you start talking to people and finding something to do in your spare time that doesn't include staring out a window. You were one of the people I loved most in the family when I was a child. I pulled you out of your small corner and played with you for the entire day if I could, hide and go seek, tag, whatever! You want me to be happy, but I'm not happy at all with you being isolated from the world. It makes no sense, Riku! Why kill yourself over one person?! You can have a whole life ahead of you! Did you get it in your head yet or do I have to slap you again?! Do you think I liked doing that?! No! But how the fuck do you expect me to get some knowledge into you! You're smart and handsome and a great brother but you need to grow up and move on." I yelled.

"Because you're my sister." he muttered.

"What?" I asked.

"I would kill myself because you're my sister." he said.

"The fuck with that! One, if you were to commit suicide I do not only have a resurrection alice for that, but I would bring you back to life just to kill you again. Two, I swear to you that if I don't hear any news from Mitsuki that you are talking more and have a girlfriend or playing some sport or something the next time I call, don't plan for me to come to the house ever again. I will send the money in and never visit, I'll send it without a return address. And lastly, your sister is living a happy life. She has friends and family and that's all a girl truly needs for happiness okay. Do you really take me for one of those snobby bitches that needs to have only the best designer clothes and everything to live? I bet you that you don't, so this conversation is over." I said, ending it once and for all.

"Fine." he muttered.

"What?" I asked, now talking in my calm regular voice.

"I'll do what you asked." he said, still on the floor, holding his cheek where I slapped him. The fact that he assured me that he wouldn't solidify himself anymore brought me to tears. I threw myself on top of him in a hug (something she apparently does a lot) and cried for a second.

"Thank you. Thank you so much Riku." I sobbed. After a few seconds I wiped my tears and stood up. With a true, full, and honest smile I extended my hand to him. He took it and hoisted himself up. We began walking back to the house. I arrived with a large smile on my face. Riku walked over to the family and began playing video games with the guys and watching sports with them and such. Mitsuki walked over to me.

"What did you do? He's actually talking!" she said with a horrified expression.

"I smacked him." I said.

"You what?" she asked, her voice slightly hushed.

"I needed to smack some sense into him that he has to move on or I wont be happy." I said. She started congratulating me and thanking me until I opened my beautiful pink laptop.

Next Day Mikan's POV

I woke up bright and early and woke up Ruka and Natsume. They groaned as they got up.

"Come on. We gotta get to the academy early to shower and stuff and then I have to work my shift at the pub." I said. They got up and walked behind me out the door. I left a note stuck to the wall for the family as I grabbed Rui's motorcycle, which I also placed on the note. He doesn't need it at the moment. He can teleport. I sat myself on it and then Natsume sat behind me. I formed a side car for Ruka. We rode off to the academy and I approached the gates.

"Mind opening these shits up!" I called to the guards. They looked at me with a scowl and then opened them. I gave a sarcastic smile and walked in with Ruka and Natsume beside me now.

"Ruka you can head up to the office. Me and Natsume will be in our dorms packing up and showering. Once you're done you can go up to the top dormitory floor. That's where we stay and you can use Natsume's bathroom." I said. He nodded and walked off in a different direction than us. We headed upstairs together and after about 15 minutes I sensed that Ruka was in Natsume's room, right when I finished. SO after grabbing my things, I headed for Natsume's room. The door was open so I just walked in and threw myself on his couch. He walked into the living room in a towel only and I immediately covered my eyes.

"Sorry I didn't know you walk out of the shower without clothes on." I said.

"You can open your eyes." he said. I peeled my hands off slowly. He was in jeans only. I would not say out loud how hot he looked. Six pack abs and a perfect torso. Any girl would faint. Thank the lord I am not any girl. I just put on a normal face and kept the heat that was rising up to my cheeks below neck level. Maybe those missions served for something when it comes to hiding emotions. I gestured him to sit down and he sat on the floor with his legs crossed. I kneeled down behind him and took the towel he had on before to dry his hair.

Ruka's POV

I finished up in the shower and threw on my clothes. I was about to turn the corner but I saw Mikan kneeling down and beginning to dry Natsume's hair. But what surprised me the most was that he listened to her and let her dry his hair. I waited a minute or two to give them privacy in case they started up a conversation or something. Then I decided to walk in. When I walked into the living room, Mikan stood up and passed Natsume the towel. When he stood up and Mikan turned away for a second I gave him a look and he rolled his eyes in return.

Natsume's POV

I stood up from my sitting position and Ruka gave me this look the clearly said "ooh what's going on here". He has got to get over it soon. So I like one girl, big deal.

"I forgot something! I have to tell the principal. Wait for me here." Mikan said rushing out of the room.

"So Natsume, what was that?" Ruka asked.

"What was what?" I asked.

"Oh don't make it hard on yourself. You listened without complaint to Mikan's command and you also let her dry your hair." Ruka said.

"So, it's not like it's the first time she dries my hair. I tend to forget to and she notices. Whatever, doesn't mean anything." I said.

"Oh, but Natsume, it does mean something. Would you let just any random girl dry your hair? No. Would you let a fangirl dry your hair? No. Hell, you didn't even let Aoi dry your hair. She's your sister! It just goes to prove how in love you are with Mikan." Ruka said.

"I'm not in love with her. It's a little crush and it won't become anything." I said. Ruka shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, mate. You have all the signs pointing directly at you and your heart." Ruka said.

"What signs?! Do you see a piece of cardboard or paper saying "Lovestruck Idiot" pointed at my head?" I asked.

"Why, yes. Yes I do." he said with a smirk. I just walked off and began packing my things.

"Natsume did you just toss cologne in there?" Ruka asked. I shook my head so as not to start any lovestruck conversations again.

"Just…she's coming back now." I said, tossing my last items and closing my luggage.

"I'm back!!! Let's head to the pub!" Mikan said. She seemed cheerful.

"How did it go with the principal?" I asked.

"He wasn't in his office. But the high school and middle school principals were. They were really nice and told me we could go." she said. I nodded and began heading out with my luggage strolling behind me and Mikan right next to me with her pink luggage strolling behind her. Ruka had left his luggage in the house. We arrived at the motorcycle.

"How are we gonna fit these luggages in this motorcycle?" I asked. She held out her hand and I passed her my luggage. She held both of them back to back and clutched them tightly by their handles. Then, in and instant, it disappeared.

"Where'd it go?" Ruka asked. She opened her fist and there were two earrings. One red luggage case and one pink.

"Those are your luggages?" Ruka asked. She nodded with a smile.

"Cool right. I always knew that a scaling and compaction alice would come in use one day. Now if my guard doesn't mind removing my alice controlling earrings." she said. I shook my head with my arms crossed.

"I'd rather keep those in my pocket or wear them myself than remove any of your devices. They aren't weighing you down and that is exactly the amount to keep your alice in control. No matter how long you have trained or use your alices, you never know when it can just un-contain itself." I said, a quick flash of memory passing through my eyes, but not letting her see to be depressed by it.

"There was a suspicious look in your eyes just now, but I'll let it slide. If that's the case, I'll just make these clip ons." she said and clutched the earrings again. When she opened her hand again, the luggages were clip ons. She literally thought I would wear those.

"So, put them on." she said, handing them to me. I shook my head.

"It's either that or you take off my earrings for me to put them on." she said. I snatched them and placed them on. I heard Ruka try to stifle a chuckle and Mikan a giggle.

"Let's just get on the fucking motorcycle. These come off at the pub." I said, an agitated look clearly etched on my face. I didn't even notice when she did it, but she pulled out her phone and took a picture of me.

"This is so gonna be your caller id pic." she said. Getting into her position. Ruka got into his little cart shit.

"I knew I shouldn't have bought you a camera phone." I muttered to myself.

"Well, you did. Now get on. I haven't gone to the pub in ages. I must imagine that Mr. Hyuuga misses his son." Mikan said. I rolled my eyes and got on, deciding to just forget about the earrings.

"So Natsume, how's your father's pub doing? Any new upgrades? New waitresses, deals?" Ruka asked on the way there. I turned there.

"Tables and chairs were changed to wooden because people were thrashing the metal into each if there was an argument. As for waitresses, that's how I met Mikan." I said as if it were nothing. He seemed happy about it though.

"Satan's Den is really popular actually. That's what brought me there. I had heard that it was run by a man that wasn't too old but wasn't too young and ran a great bar. I had also heard that all the best jobs are sent there. So that's how I arrived. In the week that I was chillin and hanging around I became fond of Mr. Hyuuga and asked for the waitress job. The last one had quit because men were hitting on her and she was way too innocent and weak to be working in a pub with mercenaries that kill for a living. So I chose the job." Mikan explained.

"I guess it's coming along good then." Ruka said as Mikan stopped the motorcycle. We got off, Mikan locked up and I pulled off the luggage earrings, stuffing them in my pocket. When Mikan walked in, she was the center of attention. It was something that Mikan happens to be able to pull of every time she walks in the pub. And it's not only because she's beautiful, but because she's deadly. She walked up to the bar with me and Ruka. Sitting ourselves on the stools, she changed into the traditional Satan's Den uniform for waitresses. My dad came out as Mikan was serving a few of the men on the far end of the counter.

"So how's it going with my waitress, Natsume? Nice to see you again, Ruka by the way." he said. I didn't answer so Ruka decided to use his big mouth.

"I think he's in love with her. He bought her 3, not 1, 3 gifts. A laptop, a cell phone, and a touch screen digital camera. And it is supposedly a natural occurrence that she tells him to sit down and she dries his hair. He doesn't even have a problem with it. And when I first met her, I kissed her hand, and he dragged me away to say that she was his property." Ruka said. My dad raised an eyebrow at me.

"It's just a small crush. An interest if you were to say the least." I said. He rolled his eyes at me and walked to the back as Mikan walked towards us, letting her hand slide the counter. I could tell some of the younger and newer mercenaries were eye fucking her which I did not like. I glared at them while she wasn't looking and then turned to her to seem normal.

"I haven't taken a job in a while. After this week of relaxation, it's gonna be work, work, work for me." she said. A person sat their self a seat away from us. He had a lowered hat as to not let anyone see his face. Mikan smiled at us, giving us a look to watch, and slid over to him, asking what he wanted. He basically wanted my regular. As he reached for it though, Mikan pulled the bottle back.

"So Satsuki, you're not gonna greet me? No hello, no hey, how ya doing?" Mikan asked with a teasing smile.

"Hi." Satsuki said. It was evident in just his posture that he was nervous around her and everyone was watching their little chat.

"Find anything else about me in the time I was gone?" Mikan asked. He nodded.

"Yes, plenty." he said. Mikan leaned her face close to his ear.

"Still want to take me to bed and hear me moan your name?" Mikan asked. Seeing as it was dead quiet in the pub, I'm sure that most people could hear the question since she didn't exactly whisper it or anything. Satsuki didn't answer.

"Woah! Still?! You got some weird personality there, bub. To think you would still take a sixteen year old to bed even if you knew she could kill you in a second and held something against you. That's awkward man." Mikan said. He got up to leave the bar when Mikan tapped his shoulder and he turned around. She handed him the beer.

"Just wanted to ask those few questions. You don't have to be so shaken up around me either. I don't bite unless you bark first. I told you that I give second chances." she said shrugging her shoulders and then leaving him there stunned as she walked back to us.

"That is my method with people sometimes. I don't always want to scare them. So I hold something against them, like the beer, to start the convo. They get nervous around me and answer in simple words like yes or no. When I get to the question that reminds them of their last experience with me, they never answer, so I just tell them to chill and that I always give second chances. It at least puts me on a good foot with one person every once in a while. Though I never trust them. You always have to know that. Never trust anyone. Though in the mercenary nobody leaks information about another mercenary to an organization, you never know when you're hired to go against the one you trust." she said. A man, not too tall, not too short, stumbled out as if he was pushed to the bar.

"Let me guess you're new here too, so they pushed you out to ask me something?" Mikan asked the person. He nodded shyly.

"Before you ask me, stand up straight, be able to talk, and wipe that nervous look off your face. I hope that's not how you plan to present yourself to an organization, because they will surely send you right back home." she said, her voice not really having any emotion. Her voice was not cold though, but the people of the pub were still scared of it. They were used to hearing the calm sweet voice when she was in a good mood. The regular when she wasn't and was a little dangerous. And the really cold one when she was ready to kill. And though that's what their used to, Mikan is actually helping this guy. She's telling him how to present himself. If she takes on the attitude of an organization head than he will know just what they are like. The man did as she instructed.

"Now that's how you present yourself. I'm nobody for you people to be afraid of. Just don't push me." Mikan said her voice back to the sweet tone I'm used to.

"Well, I was asked by the entire pub to ask you if you are a kind person. All of the people in the pub have respect towards you but also fear. They are kind with one another, having to share experiences grows them together like brothers. None of us have ever had those kind of experiences with you. The only things we hear about you are, she killed a pub, she's the top assassin, and horrible things that just cause us to fear you even more." the man said. Mikan had a frown on her face but her eyes had a look of question.

"How about telling her your name first so that she knows how to address you." I said, deciding to make visible to him that I was there too.

"Miroku!" he jumped, not noticing me before.

"Okay, Miroku. How do I start and explain this to everyone?" Mikan started.

"Oh yeah." she said. She leaned down, propping her elbows on the counter and her chin on her fists.

"I am kind. It's just that nobody takes the time to know me. They either fear me or they fear me. I'm probably the youngest mercenary around, which doesn't help me. I mean…the thing is, I started the mercenary business when I was 10,11?" she said. Everybody gasped, something that rarely happened in this pub.

"Well let me stop here. You all recognize Natsume. He can explain it to you since you guys know him more and trust him more." she said.

"Her father abandoned her with 11 siblings when she was 10. She had to work and she only knew about alices. But so as not to make it long, let's say she's been through some shit." I started.

"When I met her, I was here and I wondered why the fuck my dad would hire her as the waitress. She looked delicate and everything. I asked her and she shrugged. Some nonsense in between and I was told to guard her. Then she asked me to take her to the park. I mean the one with swings and stuff." I said.

"Before you get _too _much into detail about my childishness. Basically, all I want to do is have fun. Having to support 11 siblings doesn't give me much time and nobody talks to me because they're all scared. All you hear is bad things about me. But that's because nobody has actually taken the time to sit down, have a chat, and find out what I'm actually like when I'm not doing a job, when I don't have to kill someone. I came here and got the cold shoulder. Only reason I stayed was Mr. Hyuuga. Enjoyable man." she said.

"Like Satsuki, I give second chances, and it's almost like starting over. I might tease you about something like I did with him, but I'm not mad anymore. A lot of people would mistake me for some harmless fly if they were new. Hell, anybody would. But there's two things you need to know about me. One, I'm harmless if you don't harm me or something precious to me. And two, never challenge me to a whisky drinking contest, I will so own you." she said. I raised an eyebrow.

"You, me. The whisky." I said. Mikan crossed her arms and looked at me. Then she hauled out ten bottles of whisky.

"This is how many bottles it takes me to get tipsy." she said. She pulled out ten more.

"This is how many it takes me to get drunk." she continued. She pulled out 5 more.

"This is how many it takes to knock me out with whisky. Do you really want to try it?" she ended. I shook my head with my hands up.

"I know you better than that. You don't really lie about those things." I said. She put the bottles away.

"Well since you won't challenge her, I will. If I win you have to embarrass yourself and sing in front of the entire pub. If you win, everybody greets with a warm welcome as if you were brand new to the pub." my dad said. Mikan raised an eyebrow and began pulling the bottles out.

"Mr. Hyuuga. I respect that I could meet my defeat. You seem to have started drinking when you were let's say 16. Your son is 16 going on 17. I can imagine your ages of experience with drinking, especially since you run a pub. I'm just a girl who ate off of whisky since she was 10." she said.

"How much whisky could you find to eat?" he asked.

"I killed a pub. The rest knew. I walked into a pub just to have some whisky, nobody objected. Mind you, but I ate 8 times a day." she said with a smirk. I didn't know what it would turn into but in the end it was a draw. We only had 50 bottles. They had 25 each. Neither were out.

"So, it's a draw, Mr. Hyuuga." Mikan said.

"Never thought I would see the day when somebody drawed with old me. I apologize if offend you, but I never thought it would be a girl either." he said.

"Well, Natsume, if you ever wanna get her drunk for a shag, you at least know it aint gonna work." Ruka whispered. I immediately whipped my head to him.

"The fuck, Ruka?!" I asked, keeping my voice down to not draw attention.

"What I said is that you picked a heck of a girl to find interest in. Most guys don't like or can't find girls that can beat them in a drinking contest." Ruka said.

"And when did you become a love expert?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Ever since I got a genius girlfriend that tends to point out every theory she has proved." he responded. I rolled my eyes and turned back to my crush and father.

"Since it's a draw, we do both outcomes. You get a welcome and embarrass yourself. Everybody apologize and welcome Mikan to the pub." my dad said.

"Sorry. Welcome to Satan's Den." everybody said. Mikan smiled.

"Thank you." she said with an honest smile and a nod. I could tell the smile had gotten her many admirers which I did not like.

"Now you have to hold up your end of the deal. Time to embarrass yourself. Up on the stage." my dad said. I began chuckling and then laughed out loud. He turned to me, wondering what had gotten into his son.

"Dad, you were tricked. If Mikan had lost, there was nothing to be embarrassed about." I said. He raised an eyebrow at me and I gestured my head to Mikan standing on the stage near the microphone.

"Well I hope you don't find this song offensive. And I don't mean you either, Satsuki." Mikan said. Everybody nodded. I nudged my dad in the gut to pay close attention.

**"U + Ur Hand"- Pink****Uh uh uh uh uh uh uh oh**

**Uh uh uh uh uh uh uh oh**

**Check it out**

**Going out**

**On the late night**

**Looking tight**

**Feeling nice**

**It's a cock fight**

**I can tell**

**I just know**

**That it's going down**

**Tonight**

**At the door we don't wait cause we know them**

**At the bar six shots just beginning**

**That's when dick head put his hands on me**

**But you see**

**I'm not here for your entertainment**

**You don't really want to mess with me tonight**

**Just stop and take a second**

**I was fine before you walked into my life**

**Cause you know it's over**

**Before it began**

**Keep your drink just give me the money**

**It's just you and your hand tonight**

**Uh uh uh uh uh uh uh oh**

**Uh uh uh uh uh uh uh oh**

**Midnight**

**I'm drunk**

**I don't give a fuck**

**Wanna dance**

**By myself**

**Guess you're outta luck**

**Don't touch**

**Back up**

**I'm not the one**

**Buh bye**

**Listen up it's just not happening**

**You can say what you want to your boyfriends**

**Just let me have my fun tonight**

**Aiight**

**I'm not here for your entertainment**

**You don't really want to mess with me tonight**

**Just stop and tak****e a second**

**I was fine before you walked into my life**

**Cause you know it's over**

**Before it began**

**Keep your drink just give me the money**

**It's just you and your hand tonight**

**Uh uh uh uh uh uh uh oh**

**Break break**

**Break it down**

**In the corner with your boys you bet 'em five bucks**

**You'd get the girl that just walked in but she thinks you suck**

**We didn't get all dressed up just for you to see**

**So quit spilling your drinks on me yeah**

**You know who you are**

**High fivin, talking shit, but you're going home alone arentcha?**

**Cause I'm not here for your entertainment**

**NoYou don't really want to mess with me tonight**

**Just stop and take a second**

**Just stop and take a second**

**I was fine before you walked into my life**

**Cause you know it's over**

**Know it's over**

**Before it began**

**Keep your drink just give me the money**

**It's just you and your hand tonight**

**It's just you and your hand**

**I'm not here for your entertainment**

**No no no**

**You don't really want to mess with me tonight**

**Just stop and take a second**

**Just take a second**

**I was fine before you walked into my life**

**Cause you know it's over**

**Before it began**

**Keep your drink just give me the money**

**It's just you and your hand tonight**

**Yeah oh **

My dad stood with his jaw dropped.

"I bet you didn't know your waitress could sing." I said.

"Sorry you didn't know Mr. Hyuuga." Mikan said, with a stupid grin. I smiled and walked to the stage. I held out a hand and she took it to get down.

"And how did you know about my waitress's sudden talent to sing?" he asked.

"I listened to her sing her siblings to sleep and according to her sister, it's not so sudden." I answered.

"You've met her family. You know her history. You've stayed over at her house. Are you sure I just wasn't invited to the wedding?" my dad said. Mikan's face flushed a little.

"Oh here we go again." I muttered.

"Again? When was the before?" my dad asked.

"There was no before." Mikan stuttered. Her face was completely red and she was probably remembering everything from the amusement park.

"The revenge of Tomato face." I said.

"Stop calling me tomato face! I wasn't blushing!" Mikan whined.

"I didn't say you were." I stated calmly. This is my way of helping her get rid of the blush, by teasing her and getting her mind off of it.

"But you were implying it!" she said.

"No I wasn't. I was just calling you tomato face." I said.

"No you implied that I was blushing! Stop calling me that!" she said. She was so flustered and it made me chuckle.

"Okay polka dots." I chuckled.

"NO!!!!!!!!!! Don't call me polka dots!" she yelled.

Mikan's POV

Why do I always blush when people say me and Natsume look like a good couple? Maybe I'm wrong about me thinking I like him as just a friend. Maybe I do like him just a little. Okay, I have admitted it to myself. I like him…a little.

"Okay polka dots." Natsume chuckled.

"NO!!!!!!!!! Don't call me polka dots!" I yelled. He just laughed even more. I dropped down to my knees and grabbed his pant legs.

"It's like reliving the memory every time!! I'll never be able to get married!!!" I whined. He pulled me up.

"Okay. I'll stop." he said still chuckling a bit.

"Thank you." I said. I turned around and noticed the entire pub staring at me with eyes wide.

"See, she's really a big kid on the inside." Natsume said, patting my head. I just crossed my arms and pouted walking back behind the counter. I pulled out a bottle of tequila and drank it in one gulp.

"I'm not a kid." I said. He rolled his eyes.

"I think we've given your brothers and sisters enough time to pack." he said. I nodded and walked back to change into my clothes from before. When I came back out everyone was staring at Natsume questioningly.

"Oh, we're going on a vacation." I said.

"Now, I wasn't informed of the honeymoon?" Mr. Hyuuga asked. The guys in the pub started cheering. There was one comment that slightly disturbed me though.

"Take it to third base, Natsume!" somebody said. Then everybody began joining in. I wanted to die right there. Ruka looked amused and Mr. Hyuuga was chuckling. These are the people that have probably seen Natsume in this pub since he was a child and grew up with him, so they support him in their weird ways. They stopped when Natsume gave them a glare and they chuckled at him.

"My entire family is going, since I'm gonna be doing missions all of this year nonstop. It's gonna be tough but the money for my family's house went up and I have to keep up the allowances and everything. Then their's my step father. I won't be able to stop by for their birthdays or anything either. I pulled some strings and all of us are going to Hokkaido for a week vacation for free." I explained. Their faces dropped and I smiled brightly at them.

"Don't worry, it's just a week. We'll be back and I will get to know each one of you personally." I said. They looked happy now.

"Cheers to wifey!!!" somebody called holding up a beer.

"Cheers to wifey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" the rest of the pub called raising up their beers and mugs. Natsume and Ruka grabbed their own and raised it up. I put my hands on my hips.

"Wifey?" I asked.

"Well you're marrying Natsume. It's like saying you're marrying the rest of us." a big tough guy said. I laughed.

"Cheers to me, the _friend of Natsume_." I said, raising a bottle of tequila.

"Wifey!!!!!!!!" they roared. Natsume shook his head with a small smile.

"Let's not have your brothers ever walk into this pub." Natsume said. I nodded in agreement with a laugh. I leaned down on the counter.

"But when will these people learn we're just friends." I said, looking at the people talking happily. I wouldn't mind being more than friends with Natsume. He feels so much closer than that. I shouldn't get my hopes up, though.

"I guess you're just gonna have to get used to it. From now on, you're wifey here. You have to go through a few nicknames before they get to your real name. Each group is gonna call you something different." he said. I laughed and stood up.

"What am I gonna do?" I asked with a shrug.

"I have something in my bag for my dad though." Natsume said. He took the earrings out of his pocket. I giggled taking them and un-compacting them. Everybody stared.

"We were using his motorcycle. Can't fit luggage in there." I said with a goofy smile.

"That's so cool!" someone far off said. Everybody was musing about it as I laughed. Natsume handed his father an envelope and Mr. Hyuuga nodded, that's when everyone went quiet.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Natsume's POV

"I have something in my bag for my dad though." I said. I took the earrings out of my pocket. Mikan giggled taking them and un-compacting them, probably remembering me wearing them as everybody in the pub stared.

"We were using his motorcycle. Can't fit luggage in there." Mikan said with a goofy smile.

"That's so cool!" someone far off said. Everybody was musing about it as Mikan laughed. I handed my father an envelope and he nodded, and that's when the pub went quiet. I could tell their eyes were looking at me sadly.

"Why'd it get so quiet? What's going on?" Mikan asked.

"Nothing. It probably just hit them that we're gonna be gone for a week." I said, getting up from my seat.

"Watch out with your missions!" I called as I walked out. I wish I could see Aoi. Mikan was following behind in silence with Ruka following behind her. I sat myself at the front of the motorcycle. Mikan compacted our luggage and handed it to Ruka. He took his seat. Then Mikan sat behind me. I turned on the motorcycle with a roar. I felt Mikan's hands go around my waist.

"I respect your privacy." she whispered into my ear. It reminded me of when I took her to the amusement park. It was a good memory. First time someone complimented my alice. First time in a long while that I had laughed. A smile appeared on my face and it appeared to copy onto hers too. God, I might actually fall in love with this girl.

Mikan's POV

Natsume was back to normal again by the time we got home. I arrived and saw my family packing.

"You guys are still packing?!!!" I asked. They nodded. I sighed and decided to talk to Natsume. I took his hand and led him outside.

"Natsume, not to remind you of anything you don't want to remember but, if you ever want to tell me something…I'll always be here. I am your friend." I said. He stood there for a second and I took the time to walk into the house, seeing as I heard them say they were done.

Natsume's POV

I'll tell her about it. Eventually. I will. When it's time. When I think it's right, but for now, I'll get my mind off it and enjoy the vacation with Mikan.

"Okay so how are we gonna get there?" I asked, walking in.

"If my guard would take my alice control devices off, I could conjure two or three cars." Mikan said. I gave her a look.

"Fine, fine. I know the drill! No matter how long I've used my alice, I don't know when it can un-contain itself. Fine." she said throwing her hands in the air. I rolled my eyes at her.

"Don't be such a drama queen, polka. It's your own personal death wish to rely on your alice so much." I said.

"Please don't call me polka!!!!!! The memory just flashes through my head!!!!" she said, now on the ground like before. It made me chuckle and lift her from her knees once again.

"If you're so dependant on it, you could make a 15 passenger van. It's only one car so it's less weight to support." I said.

"Okay, fine. I call driving though!" Mikan said.

"I've got shotgun then." I said, just to claim my spot beside her. Riku and Rui glared at me but I ignored it this time.

"Let's go to bed though. First thing tomorrow we're leaving." Mitsuki said. Everybody headed to their spots. Ruka to his blankets, Mikan to her mattress, and me in between Riku and Rui who were literally glaring at me as I tried to sleep.

Mikan's POV Next Morning

I was the first to wake up surprisingly. I thought Mitsuki would be. I began waking everybody up. When I got to Rui, Natsume, and Riku I laughed. Natsume was wide awake and Rui and Riku were glaring straight at him. They turned to me when they heard my laughter.

"You have been glaring at him the entire night?!" I laughed. I could tell none of them got a wink of sleep by their red eyes. I was clutching my stomach. The red in their eyes made them seem crazy or paranoid.

"And you haven't slept a bit?!" I laughed. The looked agitated now so I held out my arms for my brothers to use to get up. When they were up, I held out a hand to Natsume. He reached for it but my brothers carried me away with their red eyes and Natsume just sighed shaking his head and getting up.

"Come on! Up and out of your pajamas! We need to get ready so I an conjure a car for the trip. Guys in the bathroom first." I said. The boys lined up for the bathroom to get changed. Natsume and Ruka were last and Riku and Rui were first and second. Once the boys were done, the girls got in. I was already ready since I don't have much clothes to choose from seeing as I have to sleep in my clothes since I don't have pajamas. Money is that tight with me.

"Everyone in the van please." I said, conjuring a van for everybody. They stood their ground.

"What are you waiting for?" I asked.

"Where are we gonna put our luggage. We don't all fit with our luggage." Ryoma said. I grabbed everybody's luggage and compacted it into a necklace. I placed it around my neck over my alice control device.

"Problem solved. In the van. I have no idea how long I will be able to support the van and we don't wanna be on the highway when it happens." I said. They got in the car and Natsume got in the seat next to me. Surprisingly enough, the minute he got in the car he fell asleep. But he looked so cute. His face was peaceful, like that of a child. I conjured a blanket and pillow for him and began driving with a soft smile on my face.

Natsume's POV

Surprisingly enough I slept the entire ride. I only awoke when Mitsuki began shaking me.

"Did I climb in the car with this blanket?" I asked.

"No, but now that we got here Mikan fell asleep and the van disappeared. The blanket and pillow should go too." she said. I looked to my left and saw Mikan asleep on the concrete as the pillow and blanket I had left

"Tch, leave it to her to push her limits until we got here. Now I have to carry her to the room." I said getting up from the floor. I walked over to my crush and picked her up bridal style. Riku and Rui were glaring at me but I paid no mind to it and began walking in.

"You guys can't get your luggage until she wakes up but she needs the rest." I said, waiting for the person in front of us to finish at the check in counter. That being said, the person finished up and walked off. Mitsuki stepped in front with Riku right next to her.

"We have reservations under Mikan Sakura." she said. Immediately the check out people began looking around anxiously.

"Where is she? You're not her." they said nervously. I stepped forward carrying her.

"We're her family and we need 14 keys." Riku said with a glare. They immediately coughed everything up to us. I'm not surprised that they're scared of her, but even in her unconscious state, too? They sent us up to the top floor. When we arrived, there was on one door in front of us. The label on the door only said penthouse. Rui-sensei pulled out the key and opened the door for us. Everybody gasped. It was possibly the best hotel suite ever. The first thing you saw when you entered was a huge living room. Three long couches positioned in the form of a U, around one big coffee table. Behind the coffee table was a fireplace installed in the wall and then a huge flat screen tv above it. If you walked further in you see to the right of the living room is a huge kitchen with a dining table placed in between the two. There were two halls and I guessed they led to the rooms. Going down the left hall, you find two doors. It took a while to find the key that matched each door. The keys all worked on the outside door but had it's own room. The doors led to two equally sized large rooms with bathrooms and everything, but they were huge. I laid Mikan down in the first bedroom.

"I claim the one next door." I said taking the keys used to open the doors. Rui and Riku growled at me and walked down the other hallway for everybody else to pick their room. When they left I smirked. I'm glad I got the room next to Mikan's. I'll be right there for her if anything. I looked at her lying on the bed. Maybe I should tuck her in even if she's still in her traveling clothes. After doing so, I took the time to look at her. She was beautiful and she even smiled in her sleep. This girl was going to change my life more than everything. I sat on the couch available in the room and began watching tv, with the volume low, until it started becoming late. I'm gonna have to scold her when she wakes up. And I heard a groan. I walked over to the bed and saw her eyes flutter open.

"You woke up in the night just before we were gonna get dinner." I said.

"Perfect! I need the energy! I'm pooped." she said jumping out of bed. Before she could rush out of the room and into the bathroom, I grabbed her shoulder.

"You didn't think I wouldn't notice, did you?" I said. She sighed and put her alice controlling bracelet back on.

"I thought nobody would." she said.

"You thought wrong. You wasted too much energy removing the device and then you added onto it by driving us there even if you were tired. You know you could have stopped at a rest stop, right?" I said.

"I wasn't tired." she said.

"And that totally explains the reason why, when I woke up, everybody was sitting on the floor in the parking lot, you were knocked out, and I had to carry you up here." I said. She gave me a goofy grin.

"Last straw. You have to promise me that only I remove your alice control devices." I said. She sighed and raised her right hand.

"I promise that only Mr. Meanie Natsume can remove my alice control devices." she said. I smirked.

"Oh, and you're grounded." I said, walking out of the room.

"Grounded?!" she yelled, chasing after me.

"You can't ground me!" she complained.

"Oh yes I can. I have now authorized myself the capability to ground wifey." I said.

"Well then you're grounded too, hubby." she said. I stopped.

"Hubby?" I asked.

"If I'm wifey, then I'm not going through the torture alone. You're hubby and you're grounded." she said. I rolled my eyes and continued walking down the hall to the living room.

"Why are you all still in your traveling clothes? Change! We need to go to dinner in an hour and a half." Mikan said, when we arrived in the living room.

"You have our luggage around your neck." Riku said. She made an O with her mouth and took the necklace off. Immediately, everybody's luggage was scattered on the ground. Everybody was reaching for it.

"Get some nice clothes for the dinner." Mikan said, walking towards the door. I grabbed her shoulder.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"The basement of the hotel is a mall. I don't have many clothes. Not a bathing suit either, so I need to shop for clothes, unfortunately." Mikan said.

"Since your budget is tight, use my credit card." I said, pulling out it out of my back pocket to hand it to her.

"I couldn't possibly." she said. I rolled my eyes and began to drag her out the door.

"It is my job to go with you everywhere, so I might as well treat you to a shopping spree." I said.

"I thought I was grounded." Mikan said.

"You are, which is why I am literally gonna stick with you everywhere you go now." I said. I think I chose the best punishment ever. I now have a reason to be with her literally everywhere she goes.

"And you're grounded too, which is why you don't get to see anything that I buy." she said. I rolled my eyes and continued dragging her out. I sat on a bench in the mall watching her shop but never seeing what she bought. She had my credit card and I told her to feel free to spend since my dad pays off my credit card. I highly doubt she'll spend much. After about an hour she walked up to me on the bench.

"I tried not to spend too much. Here." she said, handing me the card. I got up and began leading the way to the room. When we arrived, we separated to change. Coming out of the room at the same time as her, I did a once over. She looked beautiful even in the simple look. She was wearing a pair of dark jeans that wrapped her legs nicely and black high heels. An aqua blue blouse loosely hung on her small frame. Her hair was in large, long, beautiful curls. Her hair shiny and smooth like always. How I want to run my hands through her hair. Press it to my face and smell the sweet strawberry aroma of her shampoo.

"You look nice." I said, even though she looked much better than that. I saw a light blush on her face but decided to give the argument a rest for today.

Mikan's POV

"You look nice." Natsume said to me. I don't know why it made me blush, but almost everything he says does. I mean, plenty of people have told me I look nice. I'm not oblivious to the constant eye fucking I get from guards during a mission meeting and things like that. It's probably because I like Natsume. Because I have a huge, I mean small, crush on him. I looked him over like he had. God why did he have to be so hot. He was wearing medium dark jeans. I could tell the shirt he was wearing was just a plain white t-shirt. He had a black suit jacket thrown over it. His hair was as messy as usual and his eyes just as addicting as usual as well. Crimson, such a rare color. Rare but alluring, eyes that are one of a kind. I noticed that I could have been staring for a little too long.

"You don't look half bad yourself, hubby." I said to distract myself from his attractiveness.

"Well, shall we walk, wifey?" he asked with a silly grin and holding out his elbow for me to loop my arm through.

"We shall." I said, taking up on his offer. We walked down the hall and when we approached the living room, released each other's arms. Wouldn't want Riku and Rui to chop them off would we.

"You all look great. We should go now." I said. Everybody stood and headed downstairs with me. The first floor didn't contain rooms, but the many features of the hotel.

"The restaurant is on the first floor." I said, stepping into the elevator. Miyuki hit the 1 button and the elevator began to head down. When the doors open a couple was surprised to see all the people cramped up together.

"Could have just taken two separate elevators. We would have gotten to our rooms quicker." the man muttered.

"We're a group. We stick together." I said, with a sarcastic smile and walked off in the direction of our destination. I could see he rolled his eyes at me. I didn't bother with it but Natsume gave him a frightening glare. It completed it's mission. The man and wife both shivered. We arrived in the hotel.

"Party of 12 with 2 infant seats." I said. The waiter nodded and headed to the center of the restaurant where the largest table lie. We sat ourselves in order as usual with Natsume at my right and Ruka at my left, though. A group of men across the way were taking their time staring at me, though I just ignored it looking at the menu. It seemed to bother Natsume though. He turned around and gave them a long cold glare. It even gave me a sort of shiver, which certainly had them turning around.

"You didn't have to be so bothered by it. I know I get stared at a lot for a 16 year old but still, I got used to it by now. You can just ignore it if you'd like." I said, handing him a menu when he turned back around.

"It bothers me and I will not ignore it." he said. I don't know why it should bother him so much. I mean, it's just me. No need to be protective, since he only thinks of me as a friend. I shrugged my shoulders.

"May I ask what you would like, or would you like some more time?" the waiter asked a little later, approaching our table. I smiled and he drooled for a second until realized who I was, became nervous and I began speaking.

" I would like a sirloin steak with mashed potatoes on the side." I ordered. Everybody went around and said their order. Natsume ordered the same thing as me. Ruka ordered something vegetarian.

"You're a vegetarian, Ruka-pyon?" I asked. He nodded.

"I do have the animal pheremone alice. It's just too disgusting to have the alice and then eat them." he said. I nodded. We ate and discussed really anything. Poor Ruka and Natsume. Riku and Rui-nii glared at them whenever we talked about anything that has to do with my personal life. Like if I had ever had a boyfriend came up. Basically Ruka asked the questions and Natsume just added in if he had anything to say. Riku and Rui were glaring Ruka down hard, to the point where he was sweating in his seat. I think Riku and Rui are easing down on Natsume. Their glares are less…scary…so to say, towards him now. I guess they've seen that he only plans to protect me from guys and be my friend. No relationship farther or deeper than friendship, though that is pretty depressing. I heaved a sigh.

"Hey, what's with the sigh?" Natsume asked. I immediately smiled up at him so as not to seem depressed.

"Nothing. Let's go." I said, standing up. Everybody was walking out of the restaurant until a waiter stopped me. He seemed not to be attracted to me in anyway, which was perfectly good, great actually. He grabbed onto my arm. The rest of the group didn't notice and kept walking but Natsume was behind me, so he stayed to see what was up.

"Where are you going without paying?" he asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry I thought you would know who I was." I said.

"No I don't, so pay up." he said, harshly. I ignored his tone and kept calm.

"Put it on Raiden's tab." I said.

"You can't just put it on the boss's tab." he said.

"Do you know my name?" I asked. His grip on my arm became tighter, aggravating me slightly.

"No I don't. How about giving it to me?" he asked. I leaned to his ear not wanting every employee around to hear my name and freak out.

"Mikan Sakura." I whispered. With that, I wrenched my arm out of his grasp and began to walk.

"Tell your boss I send my greetings." I called out. I didn't see it coming but the waiter ran over and yanked me back by my arm and looked like he was about to smack me. Natsume's immediate reaction caused him to punch the waiter straight in the face.

"Don't you dare attempt to hurt her." Natsume growled.

Natsume's POV

He fucking attempted to slap her!

"Oh my god! Natsume, you gave him a black eye!" Mikan said. I didn't really give a fuck. I was having thoughts of burning the guy right in front of everyone at the moment. Mikan bent a little and offered him her hand to stand up. He took it and I did not like the look of his hand in hers.

"I'm so sorry! Natsume is really sorry!" Mikan apologized. He stood with a scowl.

"He better be sorry!" the waiter yelled, coming at me with a fist. I dodged to the left. He followed continuously trying to land a blow on me, continuously hitting tables and running into customers. I wasn't going to hit him, I knew Mikan didn't want me to. Then after long, he landed a blow on me when I looked over to see if Mikan was alright. Someone could steal her while I was dodging hits if I didn't pay attention. Not to mention there were too many people eye fucking her earlier.

"Natsume!" Mikan yelled, running over to us. She kicked the waiter in the back of the knees. As he fell, she grabbed his arms and wound them into an uncomfortable position. When he had hit the floor, she placed her foot on his shoulder and kept a strong grip of his arms.

Mikan's POV

"You are very fucking lucky that Natsume was waiting for me to give some kind of signal for him to kill you or hurt you. Cuz trust me, both of us are capable of either of those options. If I had signaled, Natsume could have had you down on the floor like I have you down now. I will not let you hurt my friend just because he tried to defend me. I'm gonna walk out of here today without you saying a word. And when I leave, walk up to your fellow waiters and ask who I am." I said, my tone harsher than his and with plenty of venom dripping out of it.

"Come on, Natsume. I'll fix you up, up in the suite." I said, letting go of the waiter and leading Natsume out as the waiter winced about my lock. I led Natsume upstairs to the suite, ignoring the words of my family as I walked in and heading straight for my room, closing the door behind us. Natsume sat himself on the bed and I looked at his black eye.

"It looks bad. Does it hurt?" I asked.

"A little, but it doesn't matter. I'm fine." he said.

"No you're not! I'm sorry. This all started because my ego blew up and he was gonna slap me and you protected me." I said.

"I'm supposed to protect you, aren't I?" he asked.

"No! I would have rather taken that hit than have you get a black eye!" I said.

"I wasn't going to let that happen though." he said.

"You don't have to take hits for me. All you have to do is keep guys that are flirting with me and trying to rape me away. Not get yourself injured!" I said. He rolled his eyes at me. I touched his eyes and he winced, backing up.

"See, let me heal it." I demanded. He shook his head.

"Please!" I pleaded. He shook his head, getting up and off the bed.

"You're not gonna hurt yourself to heal me." he said.

"Please Natsume!" I said, standing up. He shook his head. Damn. He doesn't speak when he's sure about a decision. I'm gonna have to tackle him for it.

"I'm gonna have to tackle you to it, it seems then." I said. He had a reaction of shock as I ran towards him. He dodged my tackle though. I tried and tried like the waiter before but thank god I had the quicker reflexes and managed to get him on the ground after a while. I pressed him to the floor with my hands so that he wouldn't push mine away. I glared at him straight in the eyes for making me have to tackle him to the ground. He glared at me back struggling to get me off but I just rolled my eyes. I lowered my head a little to examine his eye and he stopped moving, then pulled my hand to it. It started glittering shimmers of green as I placed my fingers gently on his eye. At first he winced, but then he just stood quiet as I focused on getting my alice to heal him.

Natsume's POV

She placed her fingers on my eye and I winced from the pain of the touch. But what caused me to stop jerking to get her off and completely forget about my black eye, was when my eyes came upon her luscious lips. A natural pink color, full, and it seemed to have been lined with lip gloss for the evening. I wanted to just lean in and claim them mine. But one, I was her guard and her brothers would kill me. And two, she doesn't like me like that and it would ruin the friendship I have with her. So as not to be provoked more to kiss her, I let my eyes wander around else where. This time my eyesight came upon the position of Mikan and myself. If her brothers walked in here right now, they would think that something was going on that wasn't. My legs were open as I lied down and Mikan had her legs together right in between them. It was like one of those mangas I would read where the girl falls on top of the guy like that and then they start making out. If that would really happen, it would be a miracle. I looked up at Mikan's face again and noticed she was sweating. Knowing she was at a moment of weakness, I flipped us over.

"You're pushing you alice too much. You're sweating." I said.

"No, I'm not. I'm fi…" she said before the door burst open. I heard a gasp and looked back. Riku, Rui, and Mitsuki were standing in the doorway. I immediately got off and put my hands in my pockets and Mikan jumped up just as fast. Riku gave a swing at my face but Mikan stepped in front of me and stopped it with one hand. I was gonna take that hit.

"Why'd you stop it?! He tried to fucking rape you just a minute ago!" Riku said angrily.

"No, he didn't. You came in at the wrong moment and saw incorrectly." Mikan said calmly.

"We were knocking for a fucking hour and all we heard were bangs and tumbles." Rui said, just as angry as Riku.

"Mikan, please tell me you didn't lose your virginity." Mitsuki said.

"I didn't. And I won't until I marry someone." Mikan assured Mitsuki.

"I wouldn't rape her. She's just my friend and I'm supposed to be her guard anyway." I said, appearing calm on the outside but a big ball of now-they'll-hate-me-even-more on the inside.

"So! What do you care if you're her guard?! All you probably care about is your fucking hormones!" Riku yelled.

"That's like saying there is a possibility either of you could rape your sister because you're hormonal. I know my boundaries with women. I don't rape people. And I don't treat friends like sex toys." I said.

"Then what was with that position, huh? You were both on the ground. And not to mention Mikan was sweating." Rui said.

"I was sweating because I was healing Natsume with my alice, and I you guys know about my complex alice type. I was on top of him first and when he saw me sweat he flipped us over to stop me." Mikan explained.

"He doesn't need healing! He was never injured!" Riku said.

"He was. While you guys left the restaurant, a guy grabbed me and was gonna smack me but Natsume punched him and then he punched Natsume. After sorting it out, I came up here and began to heal him. He had a black eye because of the punch." Mikan said. Mitsuki sighed in relief.

"You three know I'm not a whore sleeping around with people. I just had to tackle him to the ground because he wouldn't let me use my alice on him." Mikan finished.

"Oh. Okay, I should put the twins to bed now." Mitsuki said, leaving the room.

"And you two, should be ashamed. Natsume would do no such thing to me. You should apologize for accusing him without hearing any type of story. If you have anybody to take your anger out on, it's the waiter downstairs with the black eye for trying to smack me." Mikan scolded.

"Oh." they both said. They turned around to walk out, but Mikan pulled them by their collars.

"Apologize to Natsume or else _that _will happen again." Mikan threatened.

"We're sorry for accusing you of raping our sister." both said, sounding bothered that they had to apologize. Mikan rolled her eyes and pushed them out.

"What is _that_?" I asked.

"I force them to fight me one on one until they can land a hit on me. It took Riku and Rui-nii each two days the last time. Non-stop, no sleep, no food, no breaks. If they began to sleep, I smack them. Not to mention that they hate the thought of hitting me." Mikan said with a smile.

"How do you smile and say that? That's brutal. If I had a sister, I wouldn't be able to even think of hurting her, especially if she went through all the things you go through." I said. She smiled again.

"Yeah. That's why I picked that as their punishment. You should go to bed now. I managed to fix up your eye enough before you could flip us over." Mikan said. I nodded and walked out of the room, but she stopped me.

"What are you doing? Didn't you notice that the door next to your closet leads to my room?" Mikan asked.

"Nope." I said. Mikan opened the door next to her closet and I saw my door.

"I leave this door unlocked, but you should knock before coming in, just in case I'm changing or anything." Mikan said. I nodded and walked through the door that I luckily never locked.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Next Day Natsume's POV

We had no trouble eating breakfast except for the fact that Riku and Rui argued with the waiter the entire time for yesterday's event and anybody who eyed Mikan, while she just told the two to calm down. The waiter glared at both Mikan and me and both of us glared back and that was pretty much our morning. It was bright and warm (remember that the climate in Japan is warm and let's say it's a very warm spring now or at least, it's always hot in Hokkaido let's say) and it was decided that today was beach day.

"So everybody has bathing suits right?" Mikan asked. Everybody nodded.

"Well on my count of three, guys head to the boys' changing room, girls go to the girls' changing rooms. Guys, lay out towels, and wait for us there. You know that girls take longer to get ready. 1,2,3!" Mikan said. The kids began running to their destinations while the rest of us walked. The guys were done changing quick, seeing as we just change pants. We went out and found the perfect spot in the middle of the beach for all of our towels to lay. All of us sat and looked at the beach. We sat for about 5 minutes until a huge number of gasps were heard. We turned to the attention of the gasps. Miyo walked out in a purple one piece bathing suit with a flower on the center. People gave an admiring "ah, she's so cute" when she came in. Mayu came in wearing a blue one piece with cheetah prints on it, a green heart on the side and green skirt like thing. Midori came out at the same time wearing the same except it was a two piece and people gave the same reaction.

(h t t p : / / m u d - b u g . c o m / w p - c o n t e n t / u p l o a d s / 2 0 0 9 / 0 5 / k s w . j p g)

Miyuki came in afterwards wearing a brown tankini. Flowers crossed the top part and had a pink outline. Miyuki caught the eye of many young teenage beach people.

(h t t p : / / s 7 . s e a r s . c o m / i s / i m a g e / S e a r s / 0 7 7 H 0 0 3 8 0 0 0)

Mitsuki came in afterwards, messing up the order, wearing a white halter bikini with a skirt as the bottom piece. The high aged teens were looking over her body.

(h t t p : / / w w w . s k i n n y v s c u r v y . c o m / w p - c o n t e n t / u p l o a d s / 2 0 0 9 / 0 1 / a d r i a n a - l i m a - s u p e r - h o t - i n - v i c t o r i a s - s e c r e t - s w i m s u i t - c a t a l o g - 6 . J p g)

Then Mikan came out. That's when everybody started eye fucking and really gasping. And they weren't just her age group. Guys from ages 13 to 22 were eye fucking her. Mikan came out in a turquoise blue bikini. On the sides, the back and front were connected by a gold hoop. The same for her bikini top. God if her brothers weren't there, I would be eye fucking her too and really claim her mine.

(h t t p : / / w w w . b r a n d f l a k e s f o r b r e a k f a s t . c o m / u p l o a d e d _ i m a g e s / m o d e l - i n - b l u e - b i k i n i - 7 4 5 1 3 7 . J p g)

I walked up to her and Ruka followed next to me. She stopped when we came right in front of each other.

"How do I look?" she asked. I didn't even need to answer that question, but I just had to blurt it out anyway.

"Like a fucking goddess." I blurted. Then I realized my words.

"I mean, you look nice." I said. I gave her a quick look over. Her legs looked like they could run for her miles. Her skin was tanned its nice usual shade. Her perfect flat stomach that didn't look too skinny and no where near fat. She giggled at my comment.

"You have a lot of fan boys on this beach. Looks like I'm going to be busy." I said to get off the topic.

"You have quite a few fangirls yourself. And so do the kids, Riku, and Rui-nii." she said with a smile. I will never get tired of that smile. I sent a small smile back.

"Well, before I do anything, I have work to do. Follow me." Mikan said. I nodded and followed her to the towels.

Mikan's POV

I tried not to stare too much at Natsume. He had the perfect chest, and six pack abs and his perfectly tanned skin. I could just take him for myself if I didn't have more self control. He was wearing black swim trunks with a red strip on the side. And the red matched well with his eyes.

"You have a few fan boys on this beach. Looks like I'm gonna be busy." he said.

"You have quite a few fangirls yourself. And so do the kids, Riku, and Rui-nii." I said, noticing the lot of females staring at my brothers and Natsume. I smiled at him and he sent a small smile back. His rare smiles always make me happy.

"Well before I do anything, I have work to do. Follow me." I said, heading to the towels after Natsume nodded. On my way there I noticed most of the kids were in the water and Mitsuki was watching over them and telling them the precautions, keeping the twins close and her admirers were staring at her from afar so as not to bother. Ruka was walking there too, to help her watch the kids. He began to teach some of the kids to swim which I took a picture of the family and Ruka in the water. I stopped before Riku and Rui-nii sitting on the towel under the shade of the big umbrella.

"Stand up now." I said, my voice threatening them. They stood slowly.

"What?" Riku asked. The nerve of him to talk to me in that tone. I stood in between them and grabbed their arms closest to me. I began dragging them to my destination.

"Where are you taking us?" Rui asked. I stopped at the volleyball net surrounded by girls. I turned to them, still holding their arms.

"You are gonna find girlfriends and get social. This is your start. If I don't see you cooperating, _that_ will happen." I said. I entwined my arms in theirs and walked to the court.

"Excuse me." I said sweetly. One girl caught the ball and they all walked up to us.

"Can we help you with something?" A girl with long brown hair and a green bikini asked sweetly in return.

"Yes. My brothers here would like to join in your game, but they don't talk too much. I hope you wouldn't mind if they did. These are my older brothers Riku and Rui Sakura. My name is Mikan." I said.

"Sure, they're welcome to join the game. I'm Kana." the girl said. The other 9 girls introduced themselves to Riku and Rui-nii.

"If they are in anyway a problem, please tell me. Or if you can't find me, look for Natsume here. He'll be able to." I said, pointing to Natsume behind me as he nodded.

"Be good, you two!" I called as I walked off. I was glad to see that when I arrived at the towels they were playing and helping the girls, so I took a few pictures. I sat under the umbrella on my towel and Natsume sat on his next to me.

"Natsume do you know how long it's been since I've been to the beach, for fun at least?" I asked. He shook his head.

"I haven't been to the beach since I was about 5. And either way, my father wouldn't let me do anything anyway. But I had fun watching my siblings enjoy themselves." I said. He nodded.

"I haven't been to the beach since I was 6." he said. I nodded this time but then I got an idea.

"I know what I want to do! I want to build a sand castle! I always saw people making them when I was a kid." I said. He raised an eyebrow.

"You are such a child, it's not even funny." he said, getting up. I stood up too.

"You know my story. You have no right to say anything." I pouted. He chuckled.

"I'll grab the big bucket and get the water. You start digging." he said, handing me the bucket and spade. I began digging. He walked off and filled the bucket with water and returned.

"Your job is so easy." I complained.

"That's why I chose it. All I have to do is dip the bucket in the water and pull it out." he said with a smirk.

"Wipe that smirk off your face and help me dig." I said handing him a spade. He rolled his eyes and began digging. Once we filled the sand bucket, Natsume added water and began to mix it. Sand has to be moist to stay in place. I grabbed the bucket and flipped it over.

"One fort achieved!" I yelled. Natsume covered his ears.

"You don't have to yell that. I'm right here. God, you made my ears bleed. And it's a sand castle not a military base. We achieved a tower not a fort, moron." he said. I pouted.

"I am not a moron. And we are gonna make a big castle. So be prepared to do a lot of flipping and digging." I said. He rolled his eyes and began digging again.

30 Minutes Later

"Castle Natsume-Mikan has been built!" I yelled when we completed it. Fan boys nearby admired my smile and fan girls admired the small smile Natsume gave to me. I took a picture of the sand castle with me and Natsume with it. I had a huge smile while Natsume just looked at the camera emotionlessly, basically the same face he always has on.

"Now let's tear it down!" I said. Natsume looked taken back.

"I need to use the sand for something else." I said, innocently.

"I just spent 30 minutes of my life on building a sand castle, and we're gonna tear it down?" he asked. I nodded.

"Do you have a problem with that?" I asked.

"Yes. What do you need more sand for?" he asked.

"Natsume, lie down." I said. He gave me a questioning look but did as told. I picked up a chunk of the castle and placed it on his chest.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm burying you in sand. Once I'm done you can stand up and we'll wash off in the water." I said. He rolled his eyes and then closed them.

"Whatever. I'm gonna take a nap. Wake me up when you're done." he said. I nodded and began my work.

30 Minutes Later

After waking Natsume up, I took a surprise picture. He was grumpy from being awoken so it looked pretty funny.

"Up and at 'em, Natsume." I said, standing up. I was covered in sand so I ran to the water. Natsume stood up without a problem and walked calmly to the water. He just stood there.

"I got the sand off me, now let's walk back to the towels." he said. I raised an eyebrow and splashed him. He looked very angry and irritated.

"You water hater." I said. This huge wave of water overcame me.

"Payback." he said, when I opened my eyes and smoothed my hair out of my face.

"Fucker." I muttered.

"What'd you say, wifey?" he asked, putting his hand to his ear. He heard me, that bastard.

"Nothing, hubby." I said with mock sweetness. I walked out of the water behind him.

Natsume's POV

We came out of the water and I handed her the towel.

"You want me to get us drinks at the bar?" I asked.

"Sure. I'll have a pink lady." she said.

"I'm just gonna have a piña colada." I said. She nodded and I walked off to the bar. On my way back with my drinks in hand, I noticed Mikan surrounded by a crowd of boys. Fuckers, they were waiting for me to separate from her. She looked bothered by them and she looked like she felt she was being attacked. She must feel like that since she knows she can't use her alice on them. I threw the drinks on the ground and walked to the crowd. I pushed my way through to the center, where Mikan was.

"Sorry for this.." I whispered in her ear.

"Sorry about wha…" she asked before I crashed my lips on hers. It surprised me that she reacted after a while. I heard the guys gasping. I broke the kiss and glared at all the guys. They ran off. Girls began to glare at Mikan, but she probably didn't notice since she was blushing too hard.

"Sorry." I said again, covering the blush on my face with my bangs.

"You looked like you felt attacked so I though that if they thought you were taken they wouldn't bother you." I explained myself.

"That's okay. Thank you." she said softly. I saw the heavy blush on her face as she looked to the ground as if the sand was the most interesting thing on earth.

"I don't doubt they'll come back though, so I really won't be able to leave your side." I said.

"Okay. I have no problem with that." she said. Ruka and Mikan's family all arrived next to us.

"It's starting to get late. We should go inside." Ruka said. Mikan nodded quietly.

"What's wrong with you two? Why are you all red? Why are you so quiet? Do you have fevers, you two?" Mitsuki asked. Mikan shook her head and turned around.

"Let's head in. I need to take a long shower." she said

"Mitsuki the refrigerator is packed so if you would like to cook dinner, you can." she added. I nodded and walked behind her to get our clothes and get into the hotel. It looked like both of us were trying to escape the family from seeing our blushes. If we had to give an explanation, I don't know what I could use for an excuse.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Next Day Mikan's POV

That kiss yesterday did not let me sleep until 5 o'clock in the morning. He crashed his lips on mine, but they were so perfect. And they felt so… right. I loved it. I've cooled down though today. I can't seem too affected by it or else he'll know that I have feelings for him. I don't want that. I walked into the living room dressed for anything we were gonna do. I was wearing my bathing suit but with a long loose tunic like shirt and shorts on over it. Everybody was sitting in the living room watching tv on the plasma. The only thing that bothered me about the picture was that Riku and Rui were handcuffed to Natsume and they were just watching patterns morph to different colors and shapes.

"Morning sleeping beauty. You missed breakfast and lunch." Mitsuki said. I gave her a nod as my sight came upon my brothers.

"Why is my guard handcuffed to both of you?" I asked with a raised eyebrow and my hands on my hips.

"We suspect him." Riku and Rui said.

"Of what?" I asked.

"We just had a bad feeling about him." they said. I raised my eyebrow again. I snapped and the handcuffs were removed. Natsume stood and nodded at me as thanks.

"This guy wouldn't even hug me." I said, knowing fully well he kissed me yesterday so a hug wouldn't be impossible.

"Getting off that topic, what are we doing today?" Mitsuki asked.

"Well I'll check downstairs to see the activities they allow on the beach." I said.

"I'll go too." Natsume said. I smiled at him and we walked to the lobby. The people at the reception counter looked nervous when I approached.

"We would like to know what activities are allowed on the beach and any activities they are holding." I said. They handed me a pamphlet anxiously.

"It looks like they have wind and regular surfing day today. I've always wanted to try." I said, looking over the activities.

"I'll teach you." Natsume said.

"Really?!" I asked, turning to him excitedly and with a smile. He nodded.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I jumped. I entwined my arm in his, not thinking of the kiss at the moment, and skipped upstairs. I walked into the living room still very happy, but now dragging Natsume by the collar because he refused to skip with me all the way here. He never even made an attempt to. All he did was walk to the elevator and get dragged to the room.

"Natsume's gonna teach me how to surf and wind surf!" I said.

"That's great! Is it allowed on the beach?" Mitsuki asked.

"Yep! It's on the pamphlet they handed us!" I said, handing it to her.

"Tomorrow they're having a bonfire! And the day after they are having a concert open to any of the visitors to participate in." Mitsuki pointed out.

"Cool, we should go!" I said. Everybody got up.

"Well, we're already in our bathing suits. Let's get going." Ryoma said. Haven't heard from Ryoma in a while, I think. I led the way out. When we arrived on the beach, the attention was on us again.

"They are the most beautiful family on this beach. They were here yesterday and all of them are either cute, hot, handsome, or beautiful." a girl whispered to another. Plenty of people were talking.

"It appears we are supposedly the most beautiful people on this beach." I said. Ryoma, Riku, and Rui shrugged while Mitsuki and I smiled to each other.

"We're gonna head to the volleyball court again. Those girls aren't too bad." Rui-nii said.

"Yay! You might have a chance of getting a girlfriend!" I yelled jumping onto them. They rolled their eyes and dropped me to the ground.

"Watch her, but don't try anything." They told Natsume, walking off. I think they are growing more fond of him everyday. They don't always give glares anymore.

"I'll watch the younger kids in the shallow end. Ruka will watch the older kids so that they don't go too deep and don't drown." Mitsuki said. I nodded and the two of them and the kids headed to the farther end of the water. I was left with Natsume. I turned to him.

"So where can we get surf boards and wind boards?" I asked.

"We can rent them down at the shop." he answered. I followed him to the shop. I was standing near the post of the store watching Natsume ask for boards at a distance. I noticed that all the girls in the shop were flirting with him. Actually any female near the shop was disturbing him. I walked up and pushed my way through the crowd.

"Hey hubby. Did you get our boards yet?" I asked flirtatiously. The girls glared at me as I sent one back and they walked away.

"It was very obvious they were annoying you." I said, talking normally now.

"Thanks." he said to me as he grabbed the boards being passed to him.

"No problem. You pretend I'm your girlfriend, I pretend you're my boyfriend. You got my back, I got your back." I said. I smiled and he put our boards down on the sand.

"Why are we not in the water?" I asked.

"Because first you need to know how to position yourself and everything before getting in the water." he said.

Natsume's POV

"Hey hubby. Did you get our boards yet?" Mikan asked flirtatiously. The girls glared at her as she sent one back and walked away. Her flirting voice was amazingly hot so I can't imagine what a seductive voice would be like. But she doesn't feel for me in any other way than a friend, sadly enough, so I doubt I'll ever hear it.

"It was very obvious they were annoying you." Mikan said, talking normally now.

"Thanks." I said to her as I grabbed the boards being passed to me.

"No problem. You pretend I'm your girlfriend, I pretend you're my boyfriend. You got my back, I got your back." she said. She smiled and I put our boards down on the sand.

"Why are we not in the water?" she asked.

"Because first you need to know how to position yourself and everything before getting in the water." I answered.

"I see." she said. I lied myself on my board in the position any surfer would start with.

Mikan's POV

I imitated the position Natsume took on the floor.

"On a surf board you paddle with your arms hardest, seeing as it is the easiest limb to move in this position, and I imagine you already know how to do that." I said. I nodded and he continued.

"You paddle away from shore until you see a wave coming at you high enough for you to surf on. That's when you stop and put your legs at the side of the board in a sitting position. When the wave comes closer, turn your board away from the wave and paddle towards the shore. Begin paddling away with your hands cupped and paddle hard." He said, demonstrating how to cup my hands. I nodded attentively.

"The wave should lift you up and when you feel something like a surge behind you, that's when you get up. If you feel like you're gonna fall and you won't be able to do anything about it, fall to your side or belly flop. Never dive head first. If you caught the wave and you're returning back to shore you can sit or just jump off the board." he said. I nodded once again.

"If you see a small wave coming directly at you push down on the front of the board to get under the wave and about halfway through the wave, use your leg to kick the board up again." he said.

"Okay!" I said.

"Before you get in the water, watch me catch a wave." he said. I nodded eagerly. He took off his shirt and grabbed his board. His chest is just as hot as it was yesterday. He began paddling out. He did exactly as he told me to do and not to mention, he looked very good doing it. When he walked up to me, I couldn't wait to get on the water. I grabbed my board.

"Okay, I'm ready!" I said.

"I'll be right next to you just in case is you feel like you are gonna fall incorrectly and you can just jump onto my board." he said. I nodded and began into the water.

Natsume's POV

We got the perfect wave for us to surf on. I think Mikan must be good at everything. She was on the board and completely owning the waves. She was doing better than me. She was going through waves surfing on them, jumping on them, and doing plenty of tricks.

"Hey! Natsume, catch me!" she yelled when she appeared right next to me. I was not expecting it but managed to catch her bridal style and keep my balance.

"You were not losing your balance." I said, monotonously.

"Don't be a party pooper. It's fun!" she said. Her smile was wide and she was giggling plenty. I just rolled my eyes as we pulled into shore. She jumped out of my arms, unfortunately, and grabbed her board that was pulling in.

"That was so awesome!" she said. She got back into the water as I just sat on my towel nearby and watched. Then I saw somebody walking up to me from afar. She looked familiar.

"Natsume!" I heard. Oh no. It can't be. Not now. At least not while I'm with Mikan and her family.

"Luna." I groaned.

"Oh, Natsume! I haven't seen you in forever!" she said in her high pitched voice.

"Luna, what are you doing here?" I asked keeping my eyes on Mikan at all times.

"Why, I'm on vacation! I see you here and decide to stop by and see my boyfriend!" she said.

"I'm not your boyfriend. I broke up with you a long time ago." I said. Mikan looks so sexy when she surfs with her hair wet and that bathing suit.

"Well, just because you broke up with me doesn't mean we're through. We can still get back together. I've been waiting for you to come back to me. And look, you have!" she said.

"It does mean we're through. We will never get back together and I did not and will never go back to you. Besides I have a new girlfriend." I said watching as Mikan walked up with her board under her arm and smoothing her hair back. The sun shining on the water on her body made her look like she was glowing.

"Her?" Luna asked with a scowl looking at what my attention was on.

"Hey Natsume, who's this?" Mikan asked stopping in front of us.

"Luna Koizumi. Natsume's girlfriend." Luna said snobbily.

"Oh really? You must be an ex-girlfriend then, because he is my boyfriend." Mikan said with a raised eyebrow and her unoccupied hand on her hip.

"You must be thinking wrong. I've been Natsume's only girlfriend since his young teen days." Luna said. Mikan put her hand behind her back.

"Did he give you a ring?" Mikan asked.

"No, but he probably didn't give you a ring either." Luna said. Mikan took out her hand from behind her back. A silver ring was on her ring finger. It had my name then two entwined hearts and then her name.

"You wanna explain what this is?" Mikan asked.

"You probably bought that yourself." Luna said.

"Ooh, a stage of denial. You should walk away, you know, before it gets ugly and you start crying." Mikan said.

"Oh, it will get ugly, but I won't be the one crying." Luna said walking away. Mikan sat down next to me, sticking her board in the ground. I saw the ring vanish.

"She has an alice too, the soul sucking alice. Old girlfriend because Ruka blackmailed me to. He thought she was perfectly sane until she stuck to me like a shadow everywhere we went and tried to shoo him away from me." I explained.

"God I hate crazy fans. I never had a boyfriend but I have had quite a few stalkers. One time a college and high school dude stalked me. Trust me, I was not very comfortable with it. I punched a hole through a wall pretending to be mad and they got scared about if they got me angry." she said.

"Nice. If only I could do that with all my fan girls. But fangirls would still obsess over me if I did that. They would think it was cool and mysterious." I said. She shrugged.

"So how did I do?" she asked.

"You looked professional." I commented. She smiled largely.

"Great. I wanna try and enter the surf contest." she said.

"Well you pick up on things quickly so I wouldn't be surprised if you were able to do it. But they put an ankle band to attach you to your board in case you wipe out." I said.

"Hey, better. I can't lose my board to the waves or hurt somebody with it. The contest is starting now, so watch me." she said, grabbing her board and running off. I watched as she stood by the gathering surfers.

"You should sit closer to watch better!" she called after herself. I got up and grabbed our towels, slowly walking behind her. This girl must have ADHD. All she does is run around and move everywhere. There is probably not a spot she hasn't stepped on, on this beach. I stood by bystanders but far away from fangirls. Mikan placed a kiss on my cheek before walking to the shore so that the girls would keep away. Her lips are so perfect. Soft, full, extraordinary. I watched her walk away, leaning back slightly and putting my weight on my arms behind me. She got to the starters' line.

"READY! SET! GO!!!!!!!!!!!" a man said over a mega phone. Mikan began running into the water and began paddling. That's when I noticed Luna nearby. She was probably competing to try and beat her and get my attention. The surfers got a great wave, it was far out of the shore and looked like it would last. Mikan was at the top controlling her board perfectly. What really disturbed me was that Luna was getting closer and closer to Mikan until she was right next to her. Mikan didn't seem to sense her since she was focused on her balance. But then, Luna pushed Mikan. Mikan fell into the wave head first by accident. The board was supposed float her to the surface but Luna pushed down on the board to keep it in the water and then it seemed like she used her alice on two people because they seemed to dive down and keep Mikan underwater. I ran into the water with my board trying to catch the closest wave. I quickly caught up to Mikan's board and pushed Luna off it. I jumped off my board and saw the people holding Mikan's legs down. Mikan looked like she couldn't hold her breath any longer and her mouth just opened and the water flowed in as she closed her eyes. I kicked the people in the face and pulled Mikan up. I saw a wave coming at us so I got up on the board and carried her bridal style towards the shore. Once I arrived on the sand, I completely forgot about my board and carried Mikan away from the tides. There, I began to perform CPR on her. I don't mean to sound rude, but kissing her various times to save her life was not bad at all. I stopped when she began to cough out water and I leaned her body up, supporting her back. She leaned on me slightly, breathing heavily. The wave drowning caught plenty of attention. Saving her gave more.

"Thank-you, Nats-u-me." she said completely out of breath. I saw Luna walk over to us.

"Hold on, Mikan." I said, laying her back down. I walked to meet Luna halfway and before she could say anything, I smacked her across the face.

"So because I have a new girlfriend you try to fucking kill her?!!! What the fuck is wrong with you?!!! You're fucking insane!!! You are overly-obsessed with me!!!" I yelled. Mikan walked up to us and I turned to her.

"You should have stayed lying down. You almost died there and you had me extremely worried." I said softly.

"That's nice of you, Natsume. Thank you. But I just have one thing to say to her." she said.

"I just want you to know, I have the steal-copy-erase and nullification alice. So while you were over here getting told off by Natsume, I kind of stole your alice. And I don't think you're getting it back until you apologize to both of us." she said. Luna gasped.

Mikan's POV

Koizumi gasped at me.

"You bitch!" she yelled, jumping at me and taking me to the floor. Seeing as I still wasn't feeling well from almost drowning, I wasn't at my best. I tried pushing her off me and Natsume tried pulling her off, but she kept on attacking me, digging her nails onto the skin of my arms that protected my face. I knew more people were watching than before

"Mikan!" I heard Mitsuki yell. All of my family immediately twisted their head towards me. Mitsuki yelled to Ruka as she ran over to me. Rui and Riku dropped the volleyball and also ran towards us. When they arrived Riku and Rui helped pry Koizumi off of me, though it hurt because she was trying to hold herself down by grabbing onto my hair. Thank god they managed though. She only managed to scratch up my arms but I was pissed off.

"You tried to kill me and then you attack me?!" I yelled, my voice seething with anger as Natsume helped me stand up and Mitsuki checked my arms. As Riku and Rui held her back, I drew my hand back and slapped her harder than Natsume, making sure my nails scratched her and making sure to use a little of my strength alice to knock her even right out of my brothers' arms.

"Stop using you alice so much. How do you plan to heal yourself? Remember your alice type." Natsume whispered in my ear. Probably so that Luna doesn't hear my alice type. Rui and Riku-nii picked her up again.

"What do you want us to do with her?" they asked. I stared at her for a second.

"Nothing. Leave the damn skank on the floor to cry. And she can have her damn alice back too." I said when I saw tears welling up in her eyes. Natsume helped me walk because I had a sort of cramp in my ankle. I fell after a few steps, though not completely to the floor because Natsume was helping me. Before I could get back up again, Natsume tossed me onto his back.

"Wrap your arms around my neck." he said. I did as told and he carried me up to the penthouse piggy back. After leaning me onto the couch gently he knelt and began to massage my ankle. I began to heal my own arm. I winced at the sting.

"I never knew it stung like this." I said, closing one of my eyes. Mitsuki handed me a bottle of water knowing that I should feel dehydrated after swallowing salt water and then having to cough it up.

"Thank you." I said. I began to heal my other arm, wincing once again. After a while I pulled my ankle up to the couch and began to heal that since it was purple. I drank the water with my other hand. After I was done healing my ankle, I felt weak. Damn, I'm gonna pass out.

"Used my alice too much." I said faintly before everything went black.

Natsume's POV

"Used my alice too much." Mikan said faintly. I knew she was gonna pass out so I supported her back and when she was out of it, lifted her up bridal style for the third time today and led her to her room. I gestured Mitsuki to follow me. After I set her down on the bed, I asked Mitsuki to change her clothes and tuck her in. Mitsuki nodded and I walked out. I walked into my room and wanted to burn everything down.

"Damn!" I said, kicking the wall in front of me.

"It's all my fucking fault!" I yelled.

"If it wasn't for me dating some deranged bitch, this wouldn't have happened. It's all my fault. When I saw Luna on the wave I should have known she would have done something extreme." I yelled at myself, punching the wall once at the same time with both my fists and my lower arms, leaning my head on of them afterwards. I heard the door open and looked over with my teeth clenched.

"You banging the wall is not gonna help her sleep." Mitsuki said, standing by the door that connects Mikan's room with mine, still holding the door knob.

"Sorry. I'll quiet down." I said. She walked in my room and closed the door.

"You love my sister, don't you?" she asked.

"What gave you that crazy idea?" I asked.

"Mikan is dense but hides her emotions well so I don't know her feelings for you. But she doesn't notice it. She doesn't notice your feelings for her because of her density towards things like these. I am not dense. You're beating yourself up over something that happened so quickly you wouldn't even had been able to react quick enough. You're claiming it's your fault for it happening. You have no problem carrying her anywhere she needs to go. You make sure that she doesn't overuse her alice or take off her devices. I see all the signs. You love my sister." she said.

"Okay, so maybe I have an interest in her, but don't tell your brothers." I said.

"I wouldn't do that. And what starts out as a little crush, blooms into love eventually, and always unexpectedly." she said.

"So why do you want to know? What interest do you have in my feelings for your sister?" I asked.

"Exactly that. She's my sister, but I know how to reason and listen unlike Riku and Rui." she said. I didn't have anything to say or respond about that sentence so she continued.

"I know you mean no harm to my sister, especially now that you have feelings for her. You have my permission to date my sister, and I'm not usually like this, but if you break my sister's heart and make her cry, I will tell Riku and Rui to watch over the children, and I'll hunt you down myself. I'll give you a full interrogation and everything. And don't even think that I won't hurt you to get the answers out of you." she said.

"I'll try not to make her cry, but I certainly won't break her heart. She doesn't feel for me that way anyway. I'm not gonna take the chance of ruining our friendship either. Mikan is the most interesting person I've met in my whole life. And whether I love her to pieces or still just have a crush or liking to her, I won't risk our friendship, ever." I explained.

"That's good. My sister's safe with you and under your care when we're not around, okay?" she said. I nodded and she walked out of the door that leads to the hallway. I didn't think Mitsuki would ever give me a serious talk like that, though her voice was kind and gentle throughout the conversation. Her tone was only really slightly threatening when she said she would hunt me down.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Next Day Mikan's POV

When I woke up, once again everybody was sitting in the living room watching the pattern channel. I took the remote from the glass table and changed the channel. They all turned their heads to me.

"You guys have some serious problems if you wake up to see the pattern channel." I said.

"It's actually quite interesting. You should sit down and watch it too. It's just non stop patterns, none ever the same." Miyuki said. I slapped a hand to my forehead and let it fall down my face.

"I might have expected it from the boys, but not the girls. My god, you're sucking your life away with this channel. I think it should be taken off the channel guide. You should be watching some freaking cartoons." I said, changing the channel to Cartoon Network.

"Are we really gonna stay in and watch tv until the bonfire starts?" I asked.

"Until the day passes, we're not heading to the beach. I have no doubt Luna would dare to attack you again. She wouldn't attend a bonfire so I know we're clear for that time." Natsume said. I shrugged.

"Thanks for helping me everybody. I wasn't at my strongest at that moment." I said.

"I think Natsume deserves the biggest thanks. I heard this morning during breakfast that he saved you in the water, performed CPR on you and gave that Luna girl a good smack. A pair of girls were talking about it a few tables away when they noticed all of us in the restaurant except for Mikan." Mitsuki said.

"I see. I'll give you a thank you gift later." I said. He nodded.

"So what are we gonna do today besides watch tv today?" I asked.

"Watch tv." Riku said.

"I said, besides tv." I pointed out.

"Nothing." Rui said. I joined them on the long couch and watched Tom and Jerry and later pulled out my laptop.

An Hour Later Mikan's POV

I was just flipping through the many pictures I had taken on my camera, until I realized something.

"Guys, do you know what time the bonfire starts?" I asked. They all turned to me.

"That's true. When does it start?" Mitsuki asked.

"Let's go check." I said.

"Uh uh. You probably have to check on the beach and I absolutely will not let you go there until the time for the bonfire. I'll go and you stay here where everybody can watch you." Natsume said. I nodded, knowing better than to argue with Natsume and ruin the vacation.

"Okay, Mr. Overprotective." I said. He shook his head and got off the couch and walked out the door.

Natsume's POV

I walked out onto the beach and walked to the information center they had there.

"Do you know when the bonfire starts, today?" I asked when I reached the small wooden counter.

"It starts at 7." the girls answered with hearts in their eyes. I began to walk away until my wrist was grabbed, which made me turn around to see who was grabbing me.

"Luna." I growled.

"What do you want?" I bit at her.

"I wanna know what she has that I don't. She's not your real girlfriend. I know you're just pretending to get the fans away. If you were really in a relationship, you would be all over each other and kill anybody who dared to get near the other." she said.

"You know what? I don't want to talk to you right now, but I will tell you what she has and you don't." I said.

"She's better than you in every single way. She's strong, beautiful, kind, talented. She doesn't kill people because of old relationships that have been buried in the dust. She gives second chances. She's incredible in everything she does. She can beat you at anything when at her best." I said.

"You like that she gives second chances? Why won't you give us a second chance?" she asked.

"Because I never liked you. I'm sticking with Mikan and don't you dare do anything to hurt her." I warned.

"We'll see if she's better at me in everything. And after everything, I know you'll want to be in my bed that night." she said, turning and walking away. I walked up to the penthouse.

"What took you so long?" Mikan asked.

"Ran into Luna." I said.

"What did she say?" she asked.

"That she wants to take me to her bed." I said. Mitsuki gasped.

"There are children here, remember. They don't need to learn what that means." Mitsuki said covering the ears of the youngest children.

"Well at least she didn't try anything." Mikan said.

"So when does the bonfire start?" Riku asked.

"At 7. That's around the time that the sky gets dark here." I said. Mikan nodded and returned to her laptop. I walked over to the computer available in the room and surfed a few things on the internet.

At 7 Mikan's POV

I walked into the living room wearing capris, a t-shirt, and an un-zippered sweater over it. Everybody was dressed appropriately because the nights here are sort of cold. Everybody had a sweater or a jacket. We all began heading towards the door.

"Guys, I'm gonna take the short way." I said.

"What short way?" Mitsuki asked as I walked to the open balcony. I jumped over the railing.

"Oh my god!" I heard her yell and everybody ran to the balcony.

Natsume's POV

"What short way?" Mitsuki asked. Mikan walked towards the open balcony and jumped over the railing. I stayed in my spot while everybody else ran to the balcony and Mitsuki screamed.

"Oh my god!" she yelled as Mikan jumped.

"Why the hell aren't you worried about her?!" Riku yelled at me.

"Mikan has done missions all her life. Don't you think she would be able to land a jump like that?" I asked.

"Yeah, but we're in the penthouse suite! This hotel is huge!" he yelled.

"Fine. I'll go check on her." I said, walking over to the railing and jumping to.

"How are you supposed to help her if you jump too?! You'll both be dead!!!!" Mitsuki called after me. I stuck my landing and saw Mikan walking away from the landing spot perfectly fine.

"Hey!" I called ,not really yelling. She turned to me.

"And here I thought that I would get a few minutes of alone time." she said.

"If you wanted alone time, you could have just asked." I said.

"Just wanted to think. But it's okay. I love being with my family and friends anytime." she said.

"I understand that you need time alone. I need it sometimes too." I said.

"Thanks." she said. Her voice during the conversation was soft and gentle.

"But you shouldn't jump off balconies without telling them you can land the jump. They were worried and took it out on me." I said.

"Sounds so conceited when you say it. Either way though, thanks for the heads up." she said. I nodded and walked behind her to the benches around the pile of wood. Mitsuki and everybody arrived and sat on the bench with us. A hotel official dropped a match onto the wood. Quickly the flames grew, especially after they added a certain liquid to make it larger. They had to add some every half hour or so. Sticks and marshmallows were handed around. I put my stick towards the fire.

"You could so heat that by yourself if you wanted to." Mikan said. I lit hers up to the perfect amount and mine as well, making sure that nobody else noticed. She blew on it and ate it in one bite.

"So you do come in handy for other things than companionship." she said. I rolled my eyes.

"Just be happy I heated it up perfectly. The rest of these people here will probably burn the marshmallows or under heat them." I said.

"Crap! My marshmallow is burned!" a random guy somewhere near the bonfire said. Mikan and I both laughed and everybody in the damily turned their heads to us.

"Insider joke." Mikan said. I nodded. They just turned back to their marshmallows.

"Damn. I burnt mine." Riku cursed. I absorbed some of the heat and transferred it to Mitsuki's under heated marshmallow.

"Eat it now." I said. They both ate their marshmallows.

"At least you're good for one thing." Rui said.

"Don't think that I'll do that for all of you. Heating marshmallows for all of you takes energy. I'm just covering me and her." I said pointing to Mikan.

"Why? Cuz you want to seduce my sister?" Riku asked. Mikan and I rolled our eyes.

"When will you guys learn?" Mikan asked. I nodded to agree with her.

"Guys, cut Natsume some slack. He has never tried anything with her, has he?" Mitsuki said. They shook their head and paid attention to their marshmallows.

"I need whisky." Mikan muttered. She turned to Riku.

"Riku-nii, can you do me a favor?" she asked.

"Sure, what is it?" he asked.

"Buy me a bottle of whisky at the bar. I'll pay you back." she said. Rui, Riku, Ryoma, and Miyuki dropped their sticks with their jaws dropped. I had to chuckle a little at their reactions.

"What? I'm a big girl. I've drunken before." she said, as if it's nothing.

"You've drunken whisky before?" Rui asked.

"She ate off of whisky since she left your house." I said. Their eyes looked like they were gonna pop out of their sockets.

"I'll get you some." Mitsuki said, standing up.

"You're gonna get her some?!" Rui asked her.

"I've known about her alcohol tolerance since a long time ago. One time she came over and I found her chugging a bottle of whisky. I promised not to tell you guys until she said it herself." she explained and then walked off.

"She tied with my father in a drinking contest at the pub." I said.

"Your father?' Riku asked.

"He's 52 and has been running a pub for about 20 or 30 years. You can imagine how much he's drunken." I added.

"Nobody's tried anything on you, have they?" Riku asked.

"No, of course not. They're all too scared of me." Mikan said, knowing fully well that Satsuki tried.

"Here you go." Mitsuki said, handing Mikan a big bottle of whisky. Riku, Rui, Ryoma, and Miyuki watched attentively. Ruka, Mitsuki, and I all watched with amusement. She stood up, opened the bottle, and chugged it in only a few seconds. They're jaws were literally on the floor while Ruka, Mitsuki, and I just laughed at their reactions.

"See?" Mikan said holding up the empty bottle with a wide small.

"Okay, so you can drink a bit of whisky." Riku and Rui said.

"She drank 25 bottles of whisky and then had bottles of tequila. I can't even drink that much. I can only drink a few beers." I said.

"Yep, yep." Mikan said, sitting back down next to me.

"What else don't we know about you?" they asked.

"Well, I know how to drive a car, a motorcycle, I used to work in a club when I didn't go on missions, and a few other things." she said.

"A club?!" they asked.

"I was just a waitress." she said. I shook my head.

"You just drown yourself even further than you are." I said. She laughed with a goofy smile and we went back to roasting marshmallows.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Next Day Mikan's POV

When I walked into the living room, I was tremendously happy.

"Thank you! You didn't wake up to the patterns channel." I said.

"Actually, we heard you coming and changed the channel." Natsume said. I dropped to the floor in shame.

"You guys are pitiful." I said.

"Why'd you blow our cover?" Rui-nii asked.

"Well, I'm not gonna lie to her. I promised not to." Natsume said. That made my smile extremely wide.

"Awww, thank you Natsume!" I said, giving him a tight hug and then letting go. He nodded. His silent "your welcome".

"You respect my privacy and wishes. I respect your privacy and wishes." he said.

"Well I wish to go with my family and friends to the concert tonight. I heard the weather is actually gonna be warm tonight." I said.

"That's great!" Mitsuki said. I nodded and sat myself on the couch.

7 On The Beach Mikan's POV

I jumped down from the balcony again, but this time my family didn't scream after me. Natsume came with me, which I was perfectly fine with. When everybody I arrived with their towels, I noticed I didn't have mine.

"Damn, forgot my towel. Natsume can you share your towel with me?" I asked with puppy eyes.

"Fine." he said, laying out the towel near the stage. I sat down and he sat down next to me. I took in his attire. Bermudas and a short sleeve unbuttoned loose white shirt. It was great contrast to his messy raven hair and crimson shot eyes, which made it look extremely attractive. But apparently, Natsume is attractive in everything he wears.

Natsume's POV

I couldn't resist the puppy face she gave me.

"Fine." I said. I laid the towel on the ground and sat next to her. She was wearing a white halter top that tied in back of her neck and light blue short shorts. Why must she look hot in everything she wears? Her hair was in ringlets like before at the restaurant. The emcee got onto the stage.

"Okay everyone, does anyone want to get up here and sing?!" he said. Just then, trouble arrived at our front door.

"What do you want?" Mikan bit at Luna.

"I want to challenge you." Luna said.

"What the hell would you want to challenge me for? You would probably lose anyway." Mikan said.

"Because Natsume said you would probably beat me in anything, but nobody can beat me in singing and dancing." Luna said. I raised an eyebrow. Mikan looked at me.

"What's in it for me?" she said, turning back to Luna.

"I'll stop bothering you. If I win, I get to make out with Natsume for an entire half hour. And all your gonna hear through those kisses are gonna be moans and groans and him taking me to the bed." Luna said.

"You only ever think about sex don't you? You must be a real whore. I accept your challenge. What do you want me to sing?" she asked.

"My Hips Don't Lie, Shakira. And you have to dance too." Luna said.

"What about the guy part?" she asked.

"I knew you would be here, so I took the time to make a cd that has Shakira's part cut out." Luna said.

"Okay. I need a skirt, but I can use my alice for that." Mikan said. She walked up to the stage with Luna's cd. First she waited until Luna finished with a few light applauses that she received for effort. Her singing was tremendously horrible. When Mikan was in the dark corner of the stage I could tell she manifested a skirt. She stood on stage and handed the emcee the disk.

My Hips Don't Lie- Shakira feat Wyclef Jean

**Ladies up in here tonight**

**No fighting, no fighting**

**We got the refugees up in here**

**No fighting, no fighting**

**Shakira, Shakira**

**I never really knew that she could dance like this**

**She makes a man wants to speak Spanish**

**Como se llama (si), ****bonita (si), mi casa (si, Shakira Shakira), su casa**

**Shakira, Shakira**

**Oh baby when you talk like that**

**You make a woman go mad**

**So be wise and keep on**

**Reading the signs of my body**

**And I'm on tonight**

**You know my hips don't lie**

**And I'm starting to feel it's right**

**All the attraction, the tension**

**Don't you see baby, this is perfection**

**Hey Girl, I can see your body moving**

**And it's driving me crazy**

**And I didn't have the slightest idea**

**Until I saw you dancing**

**And when you walk up on the dance floor**

**Nobody cannot ignore the way you move your body, girl**

**And everything so unexpected - the way you right and left it**

**So you can keep on shaking it**

**I never really knew that she could dance like this**

**She makes a man want to speak Spanish**

**Como se llama (si), bonita (si), mi casa (si, Shakira Shakira), su casa**

**Shakira, Shakira**

**Oh baby when you talk like that**

**You make a woman go mad**

**So be wise and keep on**

**Reading the signs of my body**

**And I'm on tonight**

**You know my hips don't lie**

**And I am starting to feel you boy**

**Come on lets go, real slow**

**Don't you see baby asi es perfecto**

**Oh I know I am on tonight my hips don't lie**

**And I am starting to feel it's right**

**All the attraction, the tension**

**Don't you see baby, this is perfection**

**Shakira, Shakira**

**Oh boy, I can see your body moving**

**Half animal, half man**

**I don't, don't really know what I'm doing**

**But you seem to have a plan**

**My will and self restraint**

**Have come to fail now, fail now**

**See, I am doing what I can, but I can't so you know**

**That's a bit too hard to explain**

**Baila en la calle de noche**

**Baila en la calle de día**

**Baila en la calle de noche**

**Baila en la calle de día**

**I never really knew that she could dance like this**

**She makes a man want to speak Spanish**

**Como se llama (si), bonita (si), mi casa (si, Shakira Shakira), su casa**

**Shakira, Shakira**

**Oh baby when you talk like that**

**You know you got me hypnotized**

**So be wise and keep on**

**Reading the signs of my body**

**Senorita, feel the conga, let me see you move like you come from Colombia**

**Mira en Barranquilla se baila así, say it!**

**Mira en Barranquilla se baila así**

**Yeah**

**She's so sexy every man's fantasy a refugee like me back with the Fugees from a 3rd world country**

**I go back like when 'pac carried crates for Humpty Humpty**

**I need a whole club dizzy**

**Why the CIA wanna watch us?Colombians and Haitians**

**I ain't guilty, it's a musical transaction**

**No more do we snatch ropes**

**Refugees run the seas 'cause we own our own boats**

**I'm on tonight, my hips don't lie**

**And I'm starting to feel you boy**

**Come on let's go, real slow**

**Baby, like this is perfecto**

**Oh, you know I am on tonight and my hips don't lie**

**And I am starting to feel it's right**

**The attraction, the tension**

**Baby, like this is perfection**

**No fighting**

**No fighting **

The dance was seductive. All of the guys around the stage had boners and were drooling.

"Imagine fucking that girl." a guy nearby said. I glared at him. It took me a lot not to imagine what he did. If her brothers saw me with a boner, I'm pretty sure they would never let me near her again.

"That was horrible." Luna said.

"Encore! Encore! Encore!" everybody cheered.

"Luna, I don't think the crowd thinks it was horrible." Mikan said, with a smirk. I walked over and helped her jump off the stage like at the pub.

"Thank you." Mikan said with a beautiful smile. I smiled back, my rare small smile not so rare anymore when I'm around her. Luna gasped.

"You got him to smile?" Luna asked.

"Not the first time. Well you should leave now, because the last time I remembered, you said you wouldn't bother us if I won. And the last time I checked, I won." Mikan said. I had a smirk. This girl can be cute, devious, sexy and seductive, every single personality trait that attracts me to her. Luna stomped off. I led Mikan back to the towels and we listened to the other people sing for the rest of the night. We had a few conversations in between singers and a few laughs too.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Next Day The Afternoon Natsume's POV

I was on the beach by myself, thinking about Mikan. Mikan, the girl I surprisingly enough love. But it's never gonna happen. Our friendship is the closest we'll get, but that's okay. Just being around her makes me happy. Being able to see her smile, laugh, and enjoy herself. I heard footsteps behind me. Mikan was in khaki shorts and a tank top.

"What are you doing out here all alone?" she asked, sitting down next to me.

"Just thinking." I said.

"Penny for your thoughts?" she said, holding out a penny. I chuckled and threw the penny into the water.

'Hey! I could have used that for something!" she whined. I rolled my eyes.

"What are the chances that you are gonna need one more penny and have no other change?" I asked. She shrugged.

"Natsume, what do you want to do today?" she asked.

"I don't know. What do you want to do?" I answered.

"I would like to go on a walk with my bestest friend into the forbidden hotel forest slash jungle. My family left me and went around town without me. They left a note saying they would be back late" she answered.

"So I guess we're going for a walk through the jungle and I don't blame them either. You sleep like a rock." I said, standing up from my spot and holding out a hand for her to get up. She took it and we began walking to the forest. Our walk wasn't long before Mikan snapped her head to her right.

Mikan's POV

In the middle of my walk with Natsume, I felt a young alice presence and an animal presence. I snapped to the direction and a little boy ran into my legs. I picked him up.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, forgetting about the animal. He looked like he was about to cry. Looks about 6, 7, the maximum eight. I let him hug me and then felt the other presence hit me. I passed Natsume the boy quickly and pushed them backwards. Suddenly a bear jumped out at us and landed right above me. I kicked it off using my own brute force. After getting it off me, I tackled it to the ground. It was struggling with me. I set a thin layer of fire to a tree near by and jumped off the bear. The tree dropped down on the bear. I wiped the dirt off my pants. And carried the boy again.

"So mind telling us, why my friend is carrying you and why a bear was chasing you rabidly?" Natsume asked bluntly and with no emotion in his voice.

"Natsume, don't say it like that!" I scolded. He rolled his eyes.

"What's your name? How old are you?" I asked gently.

"Youichi Hijiri. 6." he answered. There were still tears in his eyes that were dropping down.

"Don't cry. Do you mind explaining to us what happened?" I asked.

"I couldn't find my mommy and daddy. I looked for them over here but the b-b-bear began chasing me." he said.

"We'll help you look for your parents." I said. I carried him out of the forest. When he stopped crying, he looked a lot like Natsume. He fell asleep in my arms.

"So you copied my alice, huh?" Natsume asked.

"Yeah. But it was too little an amount that I used on that tree for it to affect me." I explained. He nodded.

"I copied this kid's alice too." I said.

"He has an alice?" Natsume asked. I nodded.

"Spirit manipulation." I answered. We walked around the beach waiting for any sign of parents looking for their child. When it began drizzling rain, everybody cleared the beach and we were the only ones left. We kept on walking around. It was hours before we saw people looking anxious enough to have lost their child. They ran up to us and I lightly shook Youichi awake.

"Youichi, we found your parents." I said softly. He awoke slowly and began tearing up once again when he saw his parents. He jumped out of my arms and into theirs.

"Thank you so much. We don't know how we can repay you." the mother said.

"No need." I said.

"I hope he wasn't too much trouble for you." the father said. I started scratching the back of my head and Natsume just crossed his arms.

"It wasn't much much trouble." I said.

"Youichi what did you do?" his mother asked. Youichi's tears immediately dried up.

"Mommy, Daddy! It was so cool! Mikan-nee killed the bear that was chasing me!" Youichi said eagerly.

"Bear?" both parents said, stunned. The father's glasses dropped lower on his face onto his nose and one of the mother's shirt straps dropped down her shoulder.

"Yeah, we found him running away from a bear in the forest." I said.

"So if one of you is Mikan and one of you beat up a bear, I imagine you are Mikan." the mother said, pointing to Natsume. A vein popped in Natsume's forehead and I just burst out laughing. When my laughs were reduced to giggles, I replied.

"I'm Mikan. He's Natsume." I said. The father's glasses dropped even lower.

"You wrestled with bear?" he asked, disbelievingly. I nodded.

"It was nothing. I go to a school for children with special talents. Special talents your son has." I said.

"Talents?" they asked.

"They're called alices, those talents. And a person with an alice is also called that. Natsume and I are both alices." I said.

"So what are your "talents"?" the mother asked.

"Natsume's is fire." I said.

"Fire?" they asked.

"Natsume, if you would please." I said. Natsume held out his palm and lit a small fire in it.

"Youichi's alice is spirit manipulation." I explained.

"How do you know?" the mother asked.

"I can see alice stones, which are the pure form of an alice." I said. I stepped towards Youichi and lightly touched the middle of his chest. His chest turned to a ripple as his alice stone emerged from his chest. Once it was fully out, I displayed it to them.

"I can steal, copy, or erase a person's alice, as well as nullify it. But alices are natural born gifts and I usually don't steal or erase them." I said, letting the stone return to Youichi's chest.

"You should enroll him in Alice Academy before they take him by force. You won't be able to see him until he graduates but we'll take care of him. We're leaving tomorrow and if you do enroll him, I can pull some strings to let him visit." I said.

"Okay, here's our address. We'll be at the main lobby and lounge downstairs tomorrow morning bright and early. Please take care of him." the mother said. Natsume and I nodded. We watched as they turned around and walked to one of the hotel buildings on the far side of the beach. When they got in the building, it began pouring rain instead of drizzling. Natsume looked very grumpy about it.

"Okay Mr. Grumpy, I get it. Let's go inside." I said. He began walking.

"You're really lazy. I thought you hated water?" I asked. He nodded. I gave a smile, grabbed his hand, and began running to the hotel.

"The hotel's pretty far off! It'd be best if we ran there!" I called back. By the time we got in the hotel, we were soaking wet.

Natsume's POV

We got in the hotel soaking wet and I did not like a single bit about it. Mikan smiled at me.

"Oh cheer up, Natsume. It's just a bit of water. We'll go upstairs to the suite and dry up." she said.

"A bit of water, my ass." I muttered making my way to the elevator as Mikan followed behind. We were the center of attention, being soaked and all. Mikan appeared to have no problem with it though. When we reached the door of our suites, I walked straight into my room, while Mikan was reaching her hand in her pocket for her key. I changed into dry clothes and the minute I got out of the bathroom, I heard knocking on my door. I walked over and opened the door, and there was Mikan still soaking wet with a big smile.

"What are you doing still soaked?" I asked.

"It seems that when the bear tackled me, my card must have fallen out of my pocket." she said. I opened the door wider to let her come in. I dug through my drawer and found an oversized shirt that should be long enough to cover up her small frame. I threw it lightly into her hands.

"Change into that in the bathroom." I said. She nodded and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. I sat on my bed with one knee up near my chin, one arm resting on it and the other leg folded on the bed with my other arm resting on it. Mikan has no real weaknesses or fears, does she? Nothing really gets to her. She can take being tackled by a bear, she can kill somebody, she can drink more than 25 bottles of whisky, she can put a person in a deadly lock. I scanned my memory with her, thinking of anything I could have missed.

"What are you thinking about?" I heard. I looked up at Mikan. She looked sexy in my shirt and you could see her long sleek legs. She pointed to the floor.

"Just about you." I said, sitting down on the ground. She bent down to the ground and began to dry my hair.

"Me?" she asked.

"Yeah, you have no real weaknesses or fears, do you? You smile through everything. Nothing scares you. It's like you're invincible." I said.

"You're right, Natsume. I'm invincible." she said, standing up. I stood up as well, watching her smile at me. But at that minute, thunder and lightning struck and Mikan squeaked and dug her face in my shirt.

"Okay, so maybe I'm not invincible." she said, slowly looking up at me with frightened eyes. Right after it was said, thunder sounded again and her face was buried back in my shirt.

"You're afraid of…thunder and lightning?" I asked. Her head slowly nodded slowly against my shirt.

"I know, it's stupid but I am." she said, her voice slightly muffled by my now moistening shirt. I pulled off her small hands, that were clutching my shirt, by her wrists. She looked up at me, tears in the corners of her eyes. I pulled myself back towards the bed, still holding her wrists and sat with my legs open. At that time, I tugged on her wrists and her head gently landed on my chest as I let go of her hands and hugged her while she cried against me **(Kind of like in the manga Chapter 95 Page 27 except on a bed against the window. It made me so happy that chapter. Check it on if you don't remember)**.

"Why are you so scared of thunder and lightning?" I asked after her crying went down a bit.

"When I was a kid any time there was a storm with thunder and lightning, my step-father would come and beat me in my room until I was bleeding and couldn't stand up anymore using the thunder to cover up my screams and sobs. He liked to see all the damage he would cause through bright flashes of lightning. Now every time I hear thunder or lightning, I cower like a damn child. And I don't want to be afraid, I just am. I'm afraid that he'll come and do it again. And I can't resist him. I don't know what stops me, but I can't." she said through little sniffs. I hugged her tighter.

"Don't worry. I'll always be with you whenever there's a storm. I won't let him lay a finger on you." I assured her. She continued crying on my shirt.

"I'm sorry, Natsume. I won't be able to sleep until it passes." she said lightly in my shirt.

"I'll stay awake with you until it passes and you fall asleep. I'll always be with you when there's a thunderstorm, when there's lightning, and anytime that you're scared. I can promise you that." I said. She hugged me tighter.

"Thank you, Natsume." she said. I didn't say anything and held her in the hug until we fell asleep at 5 o'clock in the morning.

Mitsuki's POV The Next Morning At 6:30

We arrived late last night so we had assumed Natsume and Mikan were already sleeping. It's unlike her not to wake up first though when we're gonna leave. I sent all the kids to get ready as I walked towards her door. I pulled out a spare key and unlocked the door. The room was empty and the bed was untouched, as if she hadn't slept there that night. I walked to the door that led to Natsume's room, with just a feeling, and when I walked in quietly, I saw them together. Natsume was sitting leaning against the wall and window, his arms wrapped around Mikan gently with his legs open, leaving space for Mikan. Mikan was on her side in between his legs, leaning her head on Natsume's chest with her arms wrapped around Natsume. She was in what seemed like one of Natsume's shirts. I walked over and gently shook both of them. Their eyes opened slowly and they looked tired still.

"You should get up and get ready before Riku and Rui find you." I said.

"How did you get in here?" Natsume asked.

"I have a spare key for Mikan's room. I just had a feeling that she was in here when I found her room untouched." I said with a smile.

"Thanks Mitsuki-nee. I'll get ready now." Mikan said, getting out of Natsume's arms and releasing her arms from around him and walking to her room. He groaned as he got up. I nodded towards him and walked into Mikan's room to help her pack up. Both of them were ready pretty quickly though Mikan took longer. She was wearing her traveling clothes, which consisted of her sweats and a t-shirt.

"Should I conjure us a van?" Mikan asked when she walked in the living room with me right behind her.

"Oh no. You've used your alice enough on this trip. We're taking the bus. We already scheduled and reserved seats on the Greyhound." Rui said. Everybody got up.

"You won't even need to use your alice to compact our luggage. We can just put it in the bus." Miyuki said. Mikan nodded with a smile.

"Well we need to get down to the main lobby to check out. Everybody grab your luggage." Mikan said. We did as told and had to take two separate elevators to go downstairs this time. Mikan went to check out as we sat in the lounge. Mikan walked back to us.

"Let's wait here for a few moments." she said with her arms crossed. She uncrossed them and smiled when a mother and father came in with their child. The child had silver hair with green eyes. The mother had dark brown hair and green eyes. The father had silver hair and blue eyes. The child jumped out of his parents arms and into Mikan's.

"You're pretty eager today." Mikan said, hugging the boy.

"Yep! Morning Mikan-nee, Natsume-nii." he said. Then he turned to all of us and went quiet.

"Youichi is really shy with new people unless he's really anxious. He usually puts on a cold face when he doesn't know someone." the mother said.

"That's alright. Youichi, this is my family and Natsume's best friend. You'll get to know them on the bus ride." Mikan said.

"Here's his luggage. We'll send the rest of it to the academy later." the father said holding the luggage out.

"Pass it to Natsume." Mikan said. They did so.

"Dump the luggage on me." he muttered.

"Say goodbye to your parents for now, Youichi." Mikan said.

"Bye mommy. Bye daddy." he said, giving his parents a kiss. The parents waved as we walked to the bus. Riku, Rui, Ruka, and Natsume handled putting the luggage in the bus storage area. Mikan waited by the entrance. She took the first three steps.

"Okay everybody single file. You'll get on the bus eventually." She said, seeing all the bustling children. She walked backward into the bus directing the children where to go. Everybody seemed surprised at the quantity of us. The kids that could handle themselves stayed in the far back of the bus that sat six. Ruka sat one seat in front of them on the with the twins in a seat that seated three. He said he would watch over the children for me so that I could take a break. Rui and Riku sat across from him in a two seater. I sat in front of Riku and Rui with Youichi, Youichi sitting at the window, in a two seater. Natsume and Mikan sat across from me in a three seater that only they occupied. Natsume was sitting at the window and Mikan in the aisle. It wasn't long before the bus started up. It seemed like both of them were extremely tired because the minute the bus began moving, they both fell asleep. It was cute because Mikan was leaning her head on Natsume's shoulder and he had his head leaning on hers. A smile couldn't be helped when I saw Mikan's true smile as she slept. I turned myself to face Riku and Rui.

"I don't think you can tell me that that is not cute." I said.

"It's not cute." both said bluntly.

"Guys, before I get angry, tell me the truth. Do you really think that Natsume would hurt Mikan?" I asked.

"He could. He's a hormonal boy and can break her heart." Riku said.

"Has he ever made a move on her of any sort? No, why can't you just trust the boy?" I asked.

"Because we know that men do not care about feeling when it comes to themselves." Rui said.

"Not all men are like that. Not all men are bad. You two are perfect examples. Are you bad? Have you ever tried to make a move on any female that didn't want to have anything to do with you?" I asked.

"No." they said, hesitantly.

"Exactly my point. If you don't ever want to trust him, fine by me. But I trust that Natsume won't hurt Mikan. Mikan wants everybody to accept him. He is her best friend. He stuck with her through everything. She wants you to accept the few friends she has. I thought you would be able to respect her wishes like Natsume has, but apparently you can't." I said turning back to face forward. Oh yeah, that's gonna do the trick for them. I smirked in my seat. Mikan got her sly side from somebody. I think it was from me with all of her visits.

Natsume's POV

I felt the bus stop and Mikan stir. When I opened my eyes and lifted my head from Mikan's she lifted her head from my shoulder. I was gonna look down the aisle but I saw Riku and Rui standing in the way of any view.

"Riku-nii? Rui-nii? What's going on?" Mikan asked softly.

"Don't worry about it. We need to talk to _him_." they said, emphasizing him.

"What's up?" I asked. They both held out their hands to me.

"What's this?" I asked looking at their hands then them.

"Just shake our hands." Riku snapped. I shook their hands slowly in case it was some sort of attack.

"We trust you with our sister now. But if you do try anything, we won't hesitate to break all of your bones." Riku said. Mikan's smile went wide and I showed a small smile. Mikan jumped out of her seat and gave both of them a hug and then me and then she stood in front of them. Mitsuki peeked her head over their shoulder.

"Welcome to the family, Natsume, Ruka, Youichi." she said. She held up a thumbs up that was hard to notice but I managed. So this is her doing. I nodded as thanks and she smiled back.

"Okay, family induction over! Time to get outside and grab the luggage!" Mikan said. She led us out of the bus with her arm over my shoulder and Ruka's.

"What a relief! The glares will stop here." she said as she opened the luggage area and started pulling.

"Come on, Youichi." Mikan called. Youichi walked over to us and I picked him up. The kids, Mitsuki, Rui, and Riku walked into the house. The rest of us followed behind, stopping at the doorway.

"We have to head directly to the academy. Rui-nii will help all of you guys unpack before he comes to the academy since he's a teacher. We need to get Youichi there and fill out plenty of papers." Mikan said. I nodded. All the kids tackled us to the ground.

"Bye Natsume-nii, Mikan-nee, Ruka-nii, Youichi." they chorused. Riku gave a small wave from the window. Rui did the same while opening a luggage and Mitsuki gave a huge wave and smile.

"This is what it means to be part of the family. And Youichi, you're part of it too." Mikan said with a smile, messing up Youichi's hair. We took the public bus to the academy. Mikan stood at the door, her smile still wide.

"Afternoon Mr. Securities." she said, marching right through the gates when they were open. We got to the principal's office and dealt with all the paper work for Youichi. When we were out of the office building we stopped.

"Ruka, take Youichi to his dorm and help him unpack. We have to head to the pub and see how everybody's doing." she said. Ruka nodded and took Youichi from my arms. I nodded towards him and he nodded back as he carried Youichi off. We jumped over the school walls, knowing that the guards wouldn't let us leave again.

"So, let's take your motorcycle. It's a miracle that you park it outside of the academy." Mikan said. We walked to the parking spot and Mikan rode behind me.

Mikan's POV

I rode behind Natsume and was eager to get to the pub. I jumped off the motorcycle when he parked and Natsume did the same. When we walked through the door, we saw every person with their heads down, empty beer mugs.

"Hey guys?" I said, hesitantly.

"Why are you all depressed?" Natsume asked.

"It's almost like we can hear them. When will they get back?" one of them said.

"We are back." I said. They turned to look at the entrance.

"Is it a hallucination?" one asked. Another stood and poked my cheek.

"It's not! They're back guys!" he screamed. Everybody jumped up cheering. I laughed.

"You guys missed us that much?" I asked, walking to the counter.

"We couldn't take it after the 3rd day. We lost track of everything. The date the time." another said. I laughed and got out plenty of beer mugs and began pouring.

"Beers on the house for everyone." I said.

"Go WIFEY!!!" they yelled. Mr. Hyuuga came out of the back.

"So you guys finally got here. This place looked like a funeral home until now." he said. I smiled.

"Nice to see you too, Mr. Hyuuga." I said. I began serving the beers and made sure to hand Natsume his usual. I gave Mr. Hyuuga as well and took out a bottle of whisky. I took out a large knife. I sliced the top of the bottle as everything bubbled out. They cheered. I went around introducing myself and everybody introduced themselves. They called me Wifey, Mika, Mi-chan, Mimi, Sweetie, and plenty of things. When I got back to the counter, I was pooped.

"I understand what you meant by a lot of nicknames." I said leaning on the counter.

"Yeah, but we should get going. It's our responsibility to watch over Youichi, remember?" Natsume said.

"Yeah, we should go." I said walking with him towards the door.

"Where are you going?!" Jiro called.

"We have to watch over a kid we picked up from the vacation." I said.

"You took it farther than third base in one week?!" Makoto-kun asked. Natsume shook his head.

"She would have to be pregnant for 9 months before having a child if I did, which I won't. We promised his parents we would watch over him while at the academy. Either way, we have class tomorrow. See ya later." Natsume said as we began walking away. We rode to Natsume's usual parking spot and jumped over the wall to get in. We walked to Youichi's room where he was watching tv with Ruka.

"Hey." I said.

"Hey." Youichi and Ruka replied. I walked into the room deeper and saw them watching the pattern channel.

"I swear, I think that hypnotizes people." I said, grabbing the control and turning the tv off. I clapped my hands.

"To bed. There's class tomorrow and I have something to do tonight." I said.

"But it's only 10." Youichi whined.

"Exactly. It's 10. Time for bed. Ruka is just a few rooms over because you're both triple stars. If you need anything go to his room. We're a floor up if you need us. Tomorrow we'll take you to class." I said. I tucked Youichi into bed after he changed into his pajamas and brushed his teeth. After making sure he fell asleep, I walked out. It surprised me that Natsume was waiting for me right there.

"You have a mission tonight, don't you? That's what you have to do." Natsume said. My face went stoic.

"Yeah." I said, walking to the dorm.

"I'll go with you, in case you need help." he said. I shook my head.

"Why? I'm supposed to look after you anyway." he said.

"You're my only friend. The missions I do are far more dangerous than the ones the school gives. I'm not gonna risk losing you." I said, stopping in front of my room. I opened the door and he followed behind me.

"Fine, but I'll wait here in case you have any injuries. I'm not gonna let you use your alice to heal yourself when you're about to pass out for already using your alice too much." he said. My face softened seeing him concerned for me.

"You can take my alice control devices off. It'll be a whole lot easier for me. What I used to do without these devices is now forced with them. And that's what makes me pass out most of the time. That it takes a lot more energy for me to complete a task. Small bits of energy don't make me pass out or give me high fevers or any side effects." I said. He shook his head.

"Those things keep you from going overboard and hurting yourself. You said yourself that if you use a lot of energy you pass out or get a fever or such. What you think is no problem, is a lot of energy on a regular alice's basis." he said. I rolled my eyes, knowing that he won't remove the devices. I walked to the bathroom and changed into my mission outfit; a tight black t-shirt, black baggy sweats, my hair tied in a ponytail, and black sneakers.

"Fine, keep being persistent. I can't deny your decision to stay here. I usually get back late at night, so fall asleep if you want." I said, walking towards the window. He nodded and threw himself on a couch turning on the tv.

"When I get back, I better not see the pattern channel." I said. He nodded and I jumped out the window for my mission.

Natsume's POV 2 In The Morning

I heard a series of muttered curses going down the hallway and walked out. I saw Mikan there and she looked like she was about to collapse. I walked over quickly and helped her stand up properly.

"So you did stay awake for me." she said faintly, coughing a lot of blood into her hand afterwards.

"I'll tell you it took a hell of a lot of coffee and soda." I said. She gave a chuckle before completely collapsing in my arms. I carried her to her bed and felt her temperature. So this time she got a fever. I tucked her in and placed a moist cloth on her forehead and fell asleep on the couch.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Natsume's POV At The Actual Time They Should Wake Up

I woke up and saw Mikan still asleep. I changed the cloth on her forehead before going to my room and washing up. I wrote a note and stuck it on Mikan's door with tape. I went down a floor and knocked on Youichi's door.

"Morning, Natsume-nii. Where's Mikan-nee?" he asked.

"She felt sick so she stayed in bed." I explained. He nodded and took my hand. I walked him down and to the elementary building. We stopped outside of the door.

"If you have any problems with anybody tell me. I'll set them straight. I'll pick you up after classes since I left a note for Mikan to stay in bed." I said. He nodded and walked in. I stood at the door for a sec and watched him walk in. I left when little elementary school girls began crowding around both of us. It looks like Youichi is gonna walk the same fate as me. I walked to class and sat in my seat. All the fangirls crowded around me but I ignored them only thinking about the things that occurred during the trip. I kissed Mikan, she showed me her fear, her brothers trusted me, it was a pretty good trip. The fangirls walked away when Naru walked in the room and began the lesson. Classes went by quickly and Jinno's slow class soon came. In the middle of his class, the door slammed open. I looked over and saw Mikan. Her cheeks were tinted red and she looked tired. She's still pretty sick.

"I told you to stay in bed." I said, monotonously.

"What can I say? I don't listen." she said, walking to the bench with a shrug. She was very slow and wobbly.

"Sakura, how dare you burst into my room like that?! I shall have you sent to the principal's office right away!" Jinno said. I gave a glare and he quieted down. Seeing Mikan arriving at the bench, I slid out and helped her.

"Ahhh, why does she get all your attention?" the fan girls whined. I ignored them, when Mikan collapsed in my arms but was still conscious.

"I told you to stay in bed. Now look, you're falling all over the place." I said.

"Sorry, Natsume." she said weakly. I put her hand over my shoulder to support her. I was about to guide her out, but the door opened once again.

"Natsume-nii, I picked these flowers for Mikan-nee during break but they died on the way here." Youichi said, looking down at the flowers instead of us. He looked up at me.

"Oh, Mikan-nee." he said, seeing her next to me. Mikan gave a faint chuckle.

"Thank you for the flowers Youichi." she said, bending down slowly and taking the flowers from Youichi. She gave a smile to him. I hate that smile. A smile that can trick anybody in this room but me.

"Nii-san told me that you were sick, so I got these flowers during the break but they died on the way here." he repeated. Of course they would die, they're those yellow weeds that children think are pretty flowers. She rubbed his hair gently.

"Stop giving fake smiles. I can see straight through them." I muttered, knowing only she'll be able to hear. She gave me a glance from her position that clearly said "We'll talk about it later, but not now.".

"Awww, who's that? He looks like a mini Natsume." the girls said.

"Keep away from him, hags." I said.

"Again thank you for the flowers, Youichi, but you should get back to class. Mr. Always Scolds Me, is making me go back to bed." she said. He nodded and walked to class. I helped Mikan to her room as she excused herself from class. When we arrived, I helped her into bed. I didn't say a word or even look at her.

"Ah, come on, Natsume. Don't be like that. I'm sorry I got out of bed." she apologized.

"It's not just that, it's those fake smiles." I said.

"Natsume, I don't have fake smiles. I smile because I don't want people to worry about me. I've lived like that for years on end. No matter how much I suffered, I forced myself to smile for my family. Now it comes naturally for me that if somebody is kind enough to do something for me or worry about me, I smile and stop their worries or thank them. I'm sorry if it bothers you." she said.

"Fine, but if you feel sad or something for a reason, you take it to me. I'll take care of it." I said. I didn't notice when or how she managed to get up but knew of it the minute her soft lips placed a small peck on my cheek. I turned to her.

"For worrying about me, teaching me how to surf, and for saving my life." she said.

I've got to go to class now." I said, rushing out so that she wouldn't see the blush on my face. I walked into class while Jinno was still talking, without a word. At the moment, I regretted sitting next to Ruka.

"So what's with the blush, lover boy? Did something go on in Mikan-chan's room?" Ruka whispered with a smirk. I just turned away and looked out the window as my blush faded away. Did it mean anything? Or was it just her way of saying thank you? When will I give up and stop questioning about her feelings? It's obvious she doesn't like me that way. But I love her. My emotions just had to make me go crazy over her. She just had to be so perfect.

Meanwhile Mikan's POV

Natsume rushed out. Did I just do what I think I did? Oh no, I think I did. Oh my god, what if he finds out how I feel about him? What if I scared him off? He doesn't like me like that. He doesn't love me, like I love him. Nobody will ever love me. I'm just a monster and Natsume's just being nice to me. He's just doing his job as my guard. Stupid tears. Why? Why'd my life have to be like this? I'll never find anybody who loves me. I dropped to my knees and buried my head in my hands. Before I could cry too much, the fatigue of the fever came over me. Everything went black.

After Classes Natsume's POV

I walked and picked up Youichi. It took a while seeing as he had to pry his fangirls off him.

"Welcome to my life, kid." I said when he was finally out the door. We walked to Mikan's dorm. I opened the door and looked to the bed. Empty. Where'd she go?

"Nii-san, where's nee-chan?" Youichi asked.

"I have no idea." I said, leaving the room. He kept up with me and ran towards the Northern Forest. I found the right person there.

"Did Mikan come by here?" I asked anxiously.

"No. Was she supposed to be here?" Rui asked.

"She's sick and she's not in bed. God this girl is so troublesome. She needs to burn off some energy. Who knows how much running I've done since I met her." I said.

"Wait she's sick?" he asked.

"Yeah, since last night. Take Youichi and watch over him. I'll run around the school and check the park." I said. After handing Youichi to Rui, I did exactly that. She was no where to be found even in the hours that I looked. Maybe she walked back to her room. I ran back up to her room. I walked farther in and checked near the couch where I had left. She was there on the floor. She had dried tears on her cheeks and she was out of it. I pulled out my cell phone out and dialed Rui's number

"_Did you find her?" he asked right away._

"_Yeah. Take Youichi to his dorm until I sort everything out." I said. He hung up and so did I._

I carried her to her bed and right when I put her down, her eyes fluttered open. I put on an angry look.

"Natsume?" she asked.

"Yeah." I said.

"Why do you look so angry?" she asked softly, from the weakness. I couldn't stay angry at that face.

"Why are there dried up tears on your cheeks?" I asked. Her hand immediately shot to her cheeks.

"These aren't tears." she said, smiling at me.

"Don't lie to me and don't give me that smile. That is one of those fake smiles that are not for people who are worried about you. That's a cover up smile." I said. Now I know she was crying.

"Sorry Natsume." she said.

"What were those tears for?" I asked.

"I just-just…I'm sorry, I can't tell you. There are plenty of things that I will be able to tell you, but this thing, I can't." she said. I turned away.

"Fine, but next time you plan on getting out of bed, make sure you can get back so I don't think you left and go looking for you all over the school." I said.

"Awww, you looked all over the school for me?" she asked, her voice her normal sweet tone but softer.

"Yes, and I checked the park." I said.

"Thank you, Natsume. You just had to go and get stuck with clumsy old, troublesome me. And if you're stuck with me until graduation, you better get used to running all over the school and to hearing me say plenty of thank you's. It's not often that people are concerned for me, besides my family. Actually it's never happened until you came along." she said.

"Whatever, go to bed and don't get out of bed until your fever has passed." I said.

"Okay! Time for bed for Mikan-chan." she piped hyperly. I pulled the covers over her, turned off the lights, and walked out of the room closing the door behind me.

Next Day Mikan's POV

It seems he's not going to avoid me, so I'm happy. I walked with Natsume to Youichi's dorm, my true smile on my face.

"Are you feeling better, nee-chan?" Youichi asked. I nodded skipping to his class. I opened the door, picked up Youichi, and dropped him in an empty seat.

"Now, Youichi, did anybody give you trouble yesterday while I was gone?" I asked, my smile still bright.

"It seems like he's gonna have the same fate as me. Fangirls through all his years." Natsume said.

"I see. If any of your fangirls hurt you, tell me, and I'll kill them." I said, my voice going down to the scariest level when I said I would kill them. They all shuddered.

"I'll hurt the guys." Natsume said.

"Why can't you just hurt whatever gender?" Youichi asked.

"Because, Youichi, guys can't hit girls. There is no rule that says girls can't hurt girls or that girls can't hurt guys. But don't you think it would be wrong if I got more kills than Natsume. Of course we won't completely kill them, though. We'll just leave them in a battered state that won't allow them to come near you ever again." I said, my voice no where near cold.

"You saying everything in such a sweet voice makes it seem all the more scarier for these kids. Anybody our age would think of it as a threat." Natsume said.

"Yeah. We'll see you after classes, Youichi." I said placing a kiss on his forehead. Natsume ruffled his hair and we left. We walked into homeroom and the girls gave me disgusted looks while the guys looked at Natsume with envy.

"Do you think they're an item? I can't believe how lucky she is. Why does she get all of Natsume-sama's attention? I envy Hyuuga. He got her before us." the gossip spread. I shook my head and sat in my seat. Rui-nii walked into the room. The people in the seat in front of us ran away when they saw him staring at their bench. He slid and turned towards us. He gave a nod to Ruka and Natsume. I propped my elbows on the table, put my head on the palms of my hand, and looked him straight in the eye.

"Can I help you?" I asked.

"Yes, I would like to apologize for having to send you on a mission yesterday." Rui-nii said. Natsume turned to me.

"You had a mission last night and didn't tell me?" he asked.

"Yeah, but the school missions are easy. I had no problem with it." I said, waving my hand up and down to gesture it away.

"You know I would have waited for you until you came back, that's why." he said. I smiled at him.

"Yep. It was gonna be too easy for it to have any effects on my alice. I didn't even need my alice last night. I stuck with hand to hand combat and got through them all." I said. He rolled his eyes.

"Next time, tell me if she has a mission." Natsume told Rui. Rui-nii nodded and slid out of the bench.

"You're not gonna leave without saying goodbye, right?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It would so drop his reputation if he did that." Natsume said.

"So, I'm his sister. When it comes to your own blood everything else comes last." I said. Rui-nii continued walking. I jumped out of my seat and gripped onto his leg like a koala.

"Mikan, get off my leg!" Rui-nii scolded shaking his leg back and forth.

"Stop shaking your leg! I'm getting dizzy." I said. He stopped shaking his leg and I smirked at him.

"I have to work at the pub today so you shouldn't wait for me in the dorm if you have anything to say." I said, letting go of his leg. He nodded and walked out.

"You're Rui-sensei's sister?" a boy asked slowly. I nodded and shrugged, putting my emotionless face on.

"That's better than the old teacher I heard the dangerous ability class had." I said, sitting back down next to Natsume.

"I heard Persona died in a mission. Did you hear about that?" the boy asked. I shook my head and faced forward.

"You are the strongest person in the mercenary business and you didn't know that?" Natsume asked in a whisper.

"Of course I knew. I killed him." I muttered. Natsume looked taken back.

"Wasn't much of a challenge. Didn't know my alice and thought he could get his way around by just poking people." I said. Narumi-sensei walked into the class.

"Everybody, I have a joyful announcement!" he said, all uppity.

"Why do I have a feeling I'm not gonna like it?" Natsume muttered. I giggled, covering my mouth so that Naru wouldn't hear.

"The school is having a dance for the high school students!" he said, happily. My face dropped.

"I'm not going." Natsume and I both said at the same time.

"And it's mandatory for three quarters of your final grade in this class." Narumi added.

"You have the entire three days to pick anyone in the school to be your partner for the dance. And a girl can't deny a boy's request and a boy can't deny a girl's request. On the day of the dance, nobody is required to accept a request. You have to go alone if your requests are rejected or you do not manage to make a request." he said. All the girls and boys turned to Natsume, Ruka, and I. Natsume grabbed Ruka's wrist and I grabbed Natsume's and we jumped out the window. Ruka screamed on the way down but I caught him.

"It looked like we were going to be eaten." I said.

"I should call my girlfriend. I have to get her to fly in for this thing because there is no way, I'm going with a deranged fan girl." Ruka said, walking away.

"Since when did he have a girlfriend?" I asked.

"Since a long time ago. She's a stoic genius inventor. They're complete opposites." he said.

"We should hide now." I said, seeing a mob of people stampeding toward us, most of them girls. We began running.

"Are they always like this with you?" I yelled.

"You don't even know." he said. We jumped onto a tree and climbed it to the window in Natsume's room.

"That tree is much more convenient than I thought." I said. He nodded. I sat myself on the bed in the middle of the room and he just stood near it.

"I think your bed is comfier than mine." I said.

"I don't think so. They're both the same." he said.

"Oh you have no imagination. No senses what so ever." I said. He raised an eyebrow at me and chuckled.

"I guess we're stuck here until the school day is over." Natsume said. We heard loud footsteps and then banging on doors.

"Mikan-sama, please go with me!" a loud rumble of male voices was heard.

"Natsume-sama, take me! I'm the prettiest!" the girls yelled. Natsume messed up his own hair and sighed.

"Narumi's a bitch." Natsume muttered. I giggled.

"He just wants everybody to enjoy their high school days. You should go." I said. It would hurt to see him go with a different girl, but at least he would be happy. More social.

"And why should I?" he asked.

"Because you don't talk much to others. And when you do, it's all monotonous. Enjoy your high school years, Natsume. Get a girlfriend. Find a friend." I said.

"I already have a friend. And I don't need a girlfriend." he said.

"And what friend is that, besides Ruka?" I asked.

"You." he said shortly. It made me happy that he considered me his friend.

"Well, other friends." I said.

"Don't feel like it." he answered. I rolled my eyes and got off his bed. I jumped up and landed on his back.

"I oblige you to go to the dance." I said poking my head over his shoulder. He turned his head towards me. Our lips are so close.

"Nope." he said, shortly and I got off his back.

"Fine, remain the way you are for the rest of your life. You won't find many friend like Ruka and I that approach the guy with the no emotion face." I said.

Natsume's POV

So she wants me to get a girlfriend. New friends. Maybe she's gotten tired of me and it's obvious now that she doesn't like me on another level than friendship if she's telling me to get a girlfriend. I just…I just would hate to see her get a boyfriend or go to the dance with somebody other than me. But it's a grade, and it's obvious she would go, but she hasn't asked. Maybe I should ask her.

"I'm definitely not going." she said.

"Why not?" I asked.

"I have a mission almost every night of this year planned. I need to rest up and I don't have a dress anyway. I can't afford anything this year." she said. So that's the reason. I can fix that. She thinks she's not going. She can think again.

"Either way, it looks like we're not getting out of here any time today." I said.

"Yeah. I don't think I should blast a wall into my room either. So, Natsume, it looks like we're having a sleepover." she said.

"I'll lend you a shirt again." I said, digging through my drawer. I pulled a big shirt out and handed it to her. She just smiled at it for a second.

"Nostalgic. Don't forget your promise to me." she said.

"I assure you, I'll keep my promise." I said. She smiled and walked to the bathroom. She came out and stopped right in front of the door.

"Natsume, how can you live like this?" she asked, looking around my room.

"All guys live like this." I said, sitting myself on the bed.

"Well, I can't live like this. I'm gonna clean up this room, whether it takes me to midnight or not." she said. She began picking up things and transferring things to the living room, kitchen, closet. Before I knew it, it had been two hours and she had cleaned everything. My mangas were organized on my bookshelf. My desk was cleared for me to use. I walked into my living room and kitchen, spotless. Mikan was sitting on my bed with her back against the headboard.

"You actually cleaned it." I said.

"Yeah, and it was troublesome. You know how nasty it is to find boxers in places like under the couch and stuff." she said. I let my bangs cover my face and a blush.

"I'm just kidding. I didn't find any of those. I found a few shirts under the couch though." she said. I looked at her.

"Don't you think what you said was a little pervy then, Miss Mikan?" I said.

"Don't even start with me. Don't think I didn't see that one manga hidden in the couch cushion so we're even. And Natsume, I have a favor to ask." she said.

"What?" I asked. I'd be willing to do almost anything for this girl. She jumped off the bed and began digging in my drawer.

"I like this shirt. Can I have it?" she asked holding up a plaid blue shirt.

"Sure, but wouldn't it be big on you?" I asked.

Yeah, but if I wore it with a tank under and then folded up the sleeves a bit, it would look nice with some jeans. It smells like you too." she said.

"It smells like me?" I asked.

"Yep. You have a certain scent my nose picks up. It smells like you." she said. I raised an eyebrow but ignored it. She folded up the shirt and placed it on the desk.

"When they leave I'll take it to my room." she said. Those fan people just don't give up banging on the door.

"You know that it's not normal for somebody to ask for another person's clothing, right?" I said.

"Yeah but I don't have a lot of clothes, and you have plenty. Giving up one cute shirt wouldn't kill you." she said. I cringed at the sound of cute.

"If you consider it "cute", keep it and never return it or give it to me again." I said. She laughed.

"Oh, Natsume. What are we gonna eat?" she said. She dug in my kitchen fridge.

"How do you not keep this thing stocked? You have like a hundred times more money than me and yet you don't have your fridge stocked." she asked. I shrugged and she pulled out a bag of chips from my cabinet.

"We'll have to make this last. One chip every five minutes." she said. I raised an eyebrow, dug my hand in the bag and pulled out about fifty. She pouted a cute doggy face with her arms crossed. I dropped them back in the bag.

"Thank you!" she said, beaming a bright smile.

"You are like a child in every way." I said.

"Yes, but I am a well behaved and mature child." she said. I rolled my eyes.

"I'm going to go to bed." she said. I raised an eyebrow.

"Well, cleaning takes up energy." she said. I got off the bed and sat on the couch.

"You better not fall asleep on that couch. When I wake up tomorrow, I'll be very angry and feel guilty if you do." she said. I nodded and she tucked herself in on the bed. I soon saw her breath even out. I watched her from afar so as not to alert her senses. She looks so beautiful. It makes so much sense that I fell in love with her. The joyful personality, the great smile, the clear complexion, and perfect skin. I read my manga until about 11 and went to sleep next to her. Seeing her soothing face made me fall asleep quickly and into a deep sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

4 In the Morning Natsume's POV

I woke up from the feel of something groping for my legs. I looked to the source and saw Mikan on the ground fumbling for my attention. She was without her alice control devices and looked to be in serious pain. I jumped to the floor.

"What are you doing without your alice control devices? What were you doing this night?" I asked. She didn't say anything and her eyes were shut tight. She was thrashing her head al over the place, gripping it like crazy.

"What hurts? Your head, your arms, legs, what? Do you have a fever? Are you gonna pass out?" I asked, quickly. She just nodded.

"What are you agreeing to?" I asked. I couldn't mask the concern on my face and I was practically yelling.

"I told you not to remove your alice control devices!" I yelled. I'm about to die of a heart attack. She gripped her head and then dropped completely to the ground. I looked for any injuries any where.

"Oh my god, what happened?" I asked. I grabbed her and ran to the hospital.

"What are you doing here at 4 in the morning, Hyuuga?" Dr. Imai asked.

"Don't ask questions. Just take her." I said, handing him to her.

"She's sleeping." he said.

"No! She probably went on a mission and came back gripping her head and she looked like she was about to die!" I yelled.

"Hyuuga, why are you acting like this?" he asked. I lit his glasses on fire.

"Help her!" I yelled. He walked to a room and placed her on a bed. He ran a drill.

"She has a serious fever. About 110 degrees Fahrenheit. It seems like the blood was rushing to her head pretty quickly and suspiciously, a few electrical currents as well. She should be alright in a few days though. It won't be too common that she wakes up. A fever this high could get her tired enough to open her eyes and then just cause her to sleep again." he said. I sat down on the chair and shook my head.

"Fuck. I should have known she would have a mission tonight. That's why she went to bed so early." I growled. Dr. Imai just walked out of the room. I took out my cell phone and dialed Rui's number.

"_What the fuck are you doing calling me so fucking early in the morning?" he cursed._

"_Do you think I would fucking call you at this time for fun? You're sister's in the damn hospital!" I yelled. I heard a fumble and a crash._

"_I'm going over right now." he said before hanging up. It wasn't long before he arrived._

"She went on a mission and came back. She was just all over the place and looked like she was gonna cry. Her devices were off. And she couldn't even speak. She was just gripped her head and everything and passed out." I said.

"She just had to have that completely complex alice shape. If she forces it with alice control devices she is effected. If she does too much without the devices she is effected. And now we don't know if this thing is fucking normal or not!" he yelled.

"Please keep your voice down, Mr. Rui." a nurse said coming in.

"And how the fuck am I gonna explain to Youichi that his sister is in the hospital because her alice acts as if it's gonna kill her?" I muttered. I called Ruka.

"_Hello?" he asked sleepily._

"_Mikan's in the hospital and I need you to watch over Youichi for a few days." I said quickly._

"_The hospital?!" he yelled after I heard and a fumble and crash._

"_Yes, I'm not gonna go through the explanation until tomorrow. Make sure you get him to his class and I will text you during Naru's." I said and hung up._

Rui and I agreed to shifts. I watched her during the day and he watched her during the night. Nobody is to leave their post and if she wakes up we call the other immediately. I fell asleep. When I was awoken, it was time for Narumi's class to start. I nodded as Rui left and looked at Mikan. I brushed her hair away from her face and kissed her forehead.

"Why does she have to go through all the pain? Why does she have to do the missions alone? Why did she get that alice shape? Why the girl that I loved? Why not me?" I asked myself in a groan, aloud. If only god could answer my questions. I heard a buzz from my phone and checked it. Ruka.

"_So what happened?" the text said._

"_Mikan came back last night in a complete wreck and without her devices on." I sent._

"_Wreck?" he asked._

"_She was on the ground gripping her head. She looked like she as gonna die and I felt like I was gonna have a heart attack. She couldn't talk or anything and she just lost consciousness. She has a fever of 110 and it seems like blood and electricity was rushing through her head and her system quickly, which only explains why she had a headache. I just don't know why the hell she didn't have her devices." I sent to his question._

"_You're gonna stay up all the time and watch her?" he sent._

"_I'm watching her in the day and Rui is watching her in the night, but I could barely sleep last night. All I had was nightmares of her dying and crying that I couldn't save her." I sent._

"_You've realized that you love her by now, right?" he sent._

"_Yes, and I never knew love was this confusing and horribly troublesome." I replied._

"_Should I tell Naru after class?" he asked._

"_No, I don't need drama for him to tell the entire class and then they all come here only to ask if I can go with them or if they can go with Mikan to the dance." I replied._

"_Good luck with Mikan, man. That's all I can say." he sent._

"_Thanks." I sent._

I sat and waited.

2 Days Later Natsume's POV

I was looking at the recent diagnostic clipboard when I heard a string of curses. Mikan was leaning her body up with her arms as support. Her eyes were shut as she struggled up. I helped her.

"Natsume, have you noticed how you are always there waiting for me to wake up?" she asked smiling a true smile.

"Don't give that real smile. I'm very angry." I said. It is like a repeat of last time.

"What did I do this time?" she asked closing her eyes for a second.

"You didn't tell me you had a mission! You came to my room and I thought you were dying. I ran to the damn hospital in my pajamas. And why the hell didn't you have your alice control devices. And before you answer any questions, I have to contact your brother because both of us have been worried sick!" I scolded. I sent a text to Rui's phone for it to be quicker. Once again, he arrived in the room soon after.

"What the hell happened with you, Mikan?" he asked. Mikan sighed.

"It's something normal, nothing to worry about." she said.

"Something normal?! Care to explain that normal, because it looked pretty deadly to me?!" I yelled.

"I told you how my alice shape makes me gain more power as I age. Well the short story is, I was on the way back from my mission climbing the tree to your room and I was pretty tired. But I got that surge of pain from my alice growing. That, I was used to happening, even though it still makes me want to kill myself from the pain. The only thing that doesn't normally happen is that since my alice was growing, my alice control devices couldn't take the surge. Remember that I never wore alice control devices before. The alice control devices were electrocuting me and I wanted them off, but the combined pain wouldn't let me. The alice control devices exploded but I still had the shocks flowing through me a little though less painful. But the shocks had sent my blood and electricity to my head and I could feel it rushing up. I jumped into the window before I could fall off the tree and reached for you. I was in too much pain to really reply to anything I was feeling." she explained with a shrug as if nothing.

"And that happens on a normal basis?" I yelled.

"Mr. Hyuuga, the yelling has got to stop. I won't ask you again." a nurse said walking in and then out.

"And that happens on a normal basis?" I asked in my normal tone of voice.

"Yeah, it's just that the alice control devices inflicted more pain on me. When I felt that the alice control devices were shocking me, I was gonna get in the room and have you take them off, but they exploded before I could and, yeah." she said. I slapped a hand on my forehead and looked down.

"Sorry for worrying you, Natsume." she said.

"And do you think he was the only one who was worried? I got out of bed at fucking 4 in the morning." Rui said. Mikan giggled softly.

"Sorry for worrying you too, Rui-nii." she said. She slid her legs to the side of the bed. She was about to put her feet down when I stopped her with a hand.

"Where do you think you're going? You still can't be discharged until a day after recovery. You need to get more sleep too." I said.

"You should take a break from watching over me. Both of you, go do something in central town. I'll be fine." she said, sliding her legs back in the blanket.

"Are you sure? You're not gonna get anymore power surges while we're gone?" I asked. She nodded and began shooing us away with her hands.

"At least the fan boys won't find you here. I'll tell the nurses not to let anyone other than me, Rui, Youichi, and Ruka in." I said. She nodded and continued shooing us. I walked to the nurse and told her what I said I would. Now what should I do with the time? I'm worried but I know I should do something. Got it. I took the bus to Central Town. Plenty of girls spotted me, but as I ran, I knew they wouldn't find me in the store I would walk in. I walked into a female boutique.

"What can we help you with…sir?" a saleslady said.

"I need to find a dress for my friend." I answered.

"Oh young love." she said, as she walked to the dress section.

"So what color do you think would work best on her? Or would you like me to just tell me her personality." she said.

"I think pink or white. What types of dresses do girls usually wear for dances?" I asked.

"Oh, you're taking her to a dance?" she asked.

"Can I just get a dress, shoes, and a purse for the girl?" I asked.

"Oh, I see. You're impatient." she said.

"She's in the hospital. I want to have this done by the time she gets out tomorrow." I said.

"The hospital?! Let me get your stuff right away! Just getting out of the hospital, she's gonna need something to cheer her up!" she said, scrambling back and forth. Not long after, everything was set, wrapped, and the sales people shooed me to go cheer the girl up. They don't even know who it is, but at least I got done soon. I walked for about half an hour looking for the next damn store. The tux store. The closest I have ever gotten to a tux is jeans, a white shirt, and tux/ black suit jacket. I ordered for a tux. They took forever measuring my size and finding one.

"Plain black. No stripes, no nothing." was all I said. They took hours looking for one black tux and then finally found one, and luckily it fit me. They pressed the tux and handed it to me. Once the put it on a hanger with plastic protection, I ran away, with plenty of girls behind me, to the academy. Those girls were rabid. Even guys were chasing me, yelling to me to ask Mikan to the dance for them. I wanted to just turn around and glare at them, but knew it would slow me down and the girls would catch up. I outran them to the academy and managed to lock myself in my room. Tomorrow is the day of the dance, I don't have to accept anything and Mikan gets out of the hospital, I give her this and yeah. How the fuck am I supposed to give it to her? I can't just hand her a present like that. It's just…too weird. If I just, before I take her out of the hospital, leave the gift in her room…she comes in, sees the present, and I just say what comes to mind. I hope I don't trip up or stutter or say something stupid. That would be the end of me. I should sleep. It's been a long day.

Next Day Midday Natsume's POV

I jumped onto the tree next to my room. Thank the lord for that extra branch. It's a long jump but I can make it to her window. I barely made it, just hanging on the window sill, but I managed to slide the window open and pull myself in. I placed the present on her living room coffee where she would immediately see it from walking in, unlike her bedroom where she would have to take a turn to get in. I closed her window as if hadn't been there and walked right out the door. The fangirls and fan boys weren't near because they needed to buy things and get ready and all that shit. I walked to the hospital and to Mikan's room. She was in her clothes from the day I brought her in. I found her sitting on the bed and just looking down at the floor.

"Is the floor so interesting?" I asked, walking in. She jumped off the bed.

"Oh, Natsume! Thank the lord! I was about to choke myself with boredom right there. They wouldn't let me leave without an escort. I wanted to wrestle my way out." she said. How does she have so much energy right after the heart attack she gave me and the fever she just got out of?

"Well, before you choke yourself, we should get to your room." I said with a small smile. She jumped eagerly to me and skipped to the room. When we arrived at her door, I was a mental wreck on the inside. What if she doesn't like the dress? What if she doesn't like the shoes? What if she doesn't like the purse? What the hell am I supposed to do if she doesn't want to go?! The door opened and she walked in.

Mikan's POV

I opened the door to my room. I took a step in and the only thing I saw was the gift on my bed. I walked slowly over to it, just in case I was hallucinating. When I pinched myself and felt that the present was real, I ripped it apart. I opened the box and a beautiful dress was laid out on the top. I pulled it out and looked at it in full.

(h t t p : / / w w w . m f 0 0 . c o m / _ _ i m _ _ I l l u n a - f a s h I o n _ _ I l l u n a - 3 3 - 1 0 1 - p r o m o _ _ b r o o c h - p i n k . j p g) **(If that doesn't show you a pink dress, type pink prom dress on G o o g l e, and on the second page the third dress on the first row. It shows a girl in the dress, the dress, and two other things that are part of the dress.)**

I looked back in the box. I saw a purse and shoes but pulled out the tall shoes first. Silver high heels that looked like they would be perfect with the dress. I placed them on the bed next to where I had laid the dress.

(h t t p : / / c d n 2 . i o f f e r . c o m / i m g / i t e m / 5 5 0 / 6 3 4 / 9 1 / s i l v e r _ e n t i c i n g . j p g)

Again, I reached in the box, but this time, I pulled out the purse.

(h t t p : / / w w w . p a y l e s s . c o m / i m a g e s / 4 9 0 x 4 9 0 / 0 6 9 8 3 1 _ 4 _ 4 9 0 x 4 9 0 . j p g)

"Everything's so pretty! Who gave me all this?" I said aloud.

"It took me a hell of a lot to jump through the window, I'll tell you." Natsume said. I spun around quickly.

"You got this for me? What for?" I asked.

"You told me to enjoy my high school days. You should enjoy them too. Not only that, but it's a grade. We have to go whether we like it or not." he said. I smiled. He wants me to enjoy my high school days. I had a tear in my eye.

"Woah, you're crying. What for?" he asked.

"I'm happy. I'll get ready right away and I'll leave the door open for you to walk in when you're done." I said, walking to my room with the items. I heard the door close behind him. He may not love me, but he cares for me more than I thought. I ran to the shower to get myself cleaned up.

Natsume's POV

Thank god that she liked it. I might have died if she said it was ugly or something. Sales people do come in handy sometimes. I walked into the shower and got ready quickly. I put on my tux slipped on the shoes I bought and walked to Mikan's room.

"Natsume, did you just walk through the door?" I heard Mikan call from the room.

"Yeah." I said monotonously.

"Give me a sec. I'll be out soon!" she called. I looked around the room, waiting for Mikan.

"I'm done, Natsume." she said softly. I turned to her waiting at the doorway to her bedroom. I was about to go and drool. Beautiful, gorgeous, the only words close to what could describe her. Everything I had bought her with her pure skin and perfect figure. Her hair was beautiful in a way that a man can't describe.

(h t t p : / / w w w . p r o m - h a i r s t y l e s . u s / i m a g e s / 0 2 8 . j p g)

"You look very handsome, Natsume." she said walking over.

"You look beautiful yourself." I said.

"Well, we should get going. Who knows if Narumi's gonna take some sort of attendance." Mikan said. I nodded and stood, putting my hands in my pocket as I walked next to her. We got closer to the garden where the dance was being held and the sound got louder. When we finally arrived everybody turned to us. The girls with hearts in their eyes and the guys with drool dripping down their mouths. Naru looked surprised.

"We're here." I said.

"Grades come before your own will when it comes to your future." Mikan said. Ruka and his girlfriend approached us.-

"Crab head." I said.

"Ego monster." she said.

"Conceited" I said

"Arrogant." she replied. We shook hands.

"Why do you guys address each other like that?" Ruka asked, shaking his head.

"Ruka, don't worry about it. Natsume always calls me names. And he considers me a friend so the same might be for her. And she calls him names too. It must mean that they're on equal terms. I mean, didn't you see the handshake?" Mikan said, always looking at a bright side. Imai raised an eyebrow.

"And you are?" she asked.

"I'm Mikan Sakura. It's a pleasure to meet you." Mikan said with a little curtsy and a huge smile.

"Hotaru Imai. Same." Imai said.

"So Hyuuga, you managed to pull a girlfriend, or is it a pity act?" Imai said, turning to me.

"She's not my girlfriend, just a friend. Naru forced everybody to come because it's a grade. Neither of us two would have come if it weren't for that." I said. She nodded.

"Ruka, you look nice tonight. You as well, Imai-chan." Mikan said.

"Chan? You speak to me as if we have known each other for years." Imai said with a raised brow.

"I'm sorry if you take it into offense in anyway. I don't have many friends and Natsume was my only friend for a while. So I just consider everybody I meet as a friend, or at least people who acknowledge me and treat me like a person." Mikan said.

Hotaru's POV

"I'm sorry if you take it into offense in anyway. I don't have many friends and Natsume was my only friend for a while. So I just consider everybody I meet as a friend, or at least people who acknowledge me and treat me like a person." Sakura said. This girl. Such warm comments, and such a large smile, but there is pain and sadness hidden in her eyes. I can see it.

"Very well. I'll call you Mikan and you can call me Hotaru." I said, giving a rare small smile.

"Let's get something to drink, Hotaru!" she said eagerly, the pain invisible now.

"No, don't worry about it. We'll get it for you." Ruka said. They walked off towards the drinks while Mikan and I sat at a table.

"I have a question." I stated.

"Yes?" she asked.

"What is the pain and sadness you hide with your smile?" I asked. Her faced dropped to a frown.

"How did you notice?" she said, her voice now monotonous.

"When you spoke of friends and acknowledgement, the pain easily noted in your eyes. But then the happiness shone above it." I said.

"I knew from your appearance that you were smart. I recently had no friends, but Natsume acknowledged me. He made me feel happy, not sad and thinking about working all the time. Until he came along, I had never gotten a present in my life. And then, because of him, I made quick friends with everybody in the pub. It made me happy. The pub isn't large like some other pubs, but it's filled with good people. They wouldn't acknowledge me at first but then Natsume told them what I was like. It feels like he is trying to make up for the childhood I never had." she said, her voice softened.

"And you love him." I added.

"Just don't tell him, please." she said. I smiled at her.

"Your secret is safe with me. I'll be one of those true friends you have until the end. I like you, Mikan. You're just gonna have to get used to my personality." I said.

"You're going to have to get used to my awkward personality. I'm sorry if I feel like a mystery most of the time. I just got so stuck with Natsume that I usually take things to him and it takes me a while or a special occurrence before I tell someone my entire story. Ruka just found things out on a fair chance. If there's anything you want to know about me that you don't feel like asking me or I don't feel like telling you, you can ask him or Natsume, if you'd like." she said.

"I'll wait until you tell me. Only in emergencies will I ask them." I said. A happy smile appeared on her face.

"Something tells me we'll get along very well. To get you started on your information about me, my name is Mikan Sakura. I have the nullification and SCE alice." she said, extending her hand.

"We will get along well, despite the times I might hurt you physically. My name is Hotaru Imai and I have the invention alice. I will keep all of your secrets between us." I said, taking her hand. We shook hands and Hyuuga and Ruka arrived with our drinks.

BackTrack A Little: Meanwhile Natsume's POV

Ruka and I walked to the drinks table and got on line for the drinks.

"She's always looking at the bright side." Ruka said.

"Who?" I asked.

"Mikan, of course. She said your insults towards Hotaru and Hotaru's towards you, put you on equal terms. I've never seen it like that." he said.

"It's her childish nature and reason that causes her to see everything in a good way. She knows that there are bad things in life. Things everybody or just she has to do." I said.

"So when it's petty things or little bickers and insults she manages to find something good about it." he said. I didn't say anything as the line moved forward.

"You picked a good girl to love." he added.

"Yeah. Imai seems pretty fond of her too." I answered.

"Hotaru is probably just like you. She's never seen things in the way Mikan sees them. She is attracted to the girl's childish nature, but also the mystery hidden in her eyes." Ruka said.

"Remember that you were, and still are a bit, exactly like her. Stoic, monotonous, no emotions, and you rarely talked. Look at the effect Mikan had on you." he said.

"So what, Imai's a lesbian now?" I asked.

"No! I'm just saying that Mikan has an effect on people that she meets and spends time with. Natsume, opposites attract. You can see that in the way that Hotaru dated me and that you fell in love with Mikan." he said.

"She just doesn't feel the same for me." I muttered.

"You don't know that." Ruka said.

"She told me to get a girlfriend. Obviously she wouldn't tell me that if she wanted to be my girlfriend." I said.

"Trust me Natsume, and I know you know this too. Women are the most complex thing on earth. You never know what they're gonna come up with. But that's why men love them." he said. I raised an eyebrow.

"Have you and Imai been watching chick flicks? Soap operas? Anything?" I asked.

"I know, I'm a love guru, but no." he said. The line moved again. And we waited and waited until we got to the front of the punch bowl.

"Finally, the stupid drinks line takes forever. It's drinks, take a cup, pour and go." I said.

"So Mikan hasn't changed your impatience yet." Ruka said, taking a cup for his girlfriend. I took a cup for Mikan and walked towards them. They were in the middle of a handshake, each with a small smile on their face.

"What's been going on, ladies?" Ruka asked with a smile.

"Just girl talk." Mikan said.

"Imai talks girl talk. Hard to believe." I said sitting next to Mikan.

"It's surprising how you try to convince others and think of yourself as a man. I mean, it's just so unmistakable." Imai replied. I gave a short glare and she did the same. Mikan laughed.

"You two are exactly alike. But let's stop insulting each other for tonight." Mikan said. Her eyes twinkled with happiness and amusement.

"Fine." both Imai and I grumbled.

"Well, everybody! Please stand up for a second!" Narumi said into a microphone. Everybody stood and so did we, though we didn't like it. Before anybody else could notice, the chairs were thrown into the woods.

"Time for the actual dance to begin! Dancing is part of your grade! And now that there are no chairs, you are obliged to stand and dance!!!!" he said. We were just standing there, though Mikan's eyes were still filled with joy. Ruka guided Imai to the dance floor.

"Natsume, would you like to dance with me?" Mikan asked. My face flushed a little.

"I don't know how to dance." I said quietly.

"You what?" she asked.

"I don't know how to dance." I said, now loud enough for her to hear me. She had a big grin on her face and her twinkled wit more amusement than before.

"That's okay! I'll teach you!" she said, dragging me to the dance floor.

"This is a slow song, so you put your right hand on my waist." she said, taking my hand and placing it on her waist.

"I put my left hand on your shoulder." she said, doing exactly as said. She took my left hand and entwined it with her right fingers. It was a great feeling.

"Now, I take a step back and you take a step forward." she said. I took the step before her by accident and stepped on her foot.

"Sorry." I muttered.

"It's okay. Let's try again." she said.

"This time you go back and I go forward and then back to our original position." she said. I went back, but then stepped forward too quickly and stepped on her foot again.

"Dancing is stupid." I said, dropping her hands and turning around to leave. She grabbed my wrist and pulled me to turn around.

"Don't worry. The beat is 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2 and you keep on going like that. If you know the beat, you can do it. I'll go back and you forward. Then you go back and I go forward. Then we go left at the same time, right at the same time, and begin again. It's simple, so you can do it." she said, taking position and clasping her hand in mine. She began the dance and I followed along. When I finally got the hang of it, the song was almost over.

"See, that wasn't so horrible. It was simple and I know you enjoyed it." she said when we walked back to the table. Imai and Ruka were already there waiting for us.

"I saw the times you stepped on her foot." Imai said while Ruka just chuckled in the background. A small vein popped in my head.

"Oh come on you two. He didn't know how to dance and it was his first time trying. Be lenient. And besides, he got it in the end." Mikan said. We stood with them since the chairs had not been returned yet, seeing as the teachers could not find them in the woods. Narumi came up to the microphone again.

"Guys, we have a special performance for you tonight. Arriving soon will be a graduate of Alice Academy, a personal friend of mine, and a top celebrity, Reo Mouri." Narumi announced. Everybody began cheering but Mikan looked like she had a headache, holding a hand to her head and gripping my sleeve tightly.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked. She nodded and let go of me. Then she ran to Narumi on the stage.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Mikan's POV

Hearing Reo's name, I thought he wouldn't attempt anything at the academy. But my premonition alice, thank the lord, kept me from making a huge mistake. Though the alice does give me those massive headaches.

"Hey, are you okay?" Natsume asked. I nodded and let go of his sleeve. I ran up to Narumi on stage. He turned towards me and I gestured him away from the mic so that nobody would hear our conversation.

"I don't think it's a good idea to have Mouri here. Call him and tell him to go back." I said.

"Why? If we did, we wouldn't have a performer." Narumi said.

"Trust me on this Narumi-sensei. Send him back. I'll perform in his place if that's the problem." I said.

"I'll take your request, I guess. Let me introduce you then." Narumi said. He walked to the microphone.

"Okay everybody! Change of plans! Reo says he's stuck in traffic and probably won't be able to make it. So, Mikan-chan has offered to perform in his place." Narumi announced. The guys cheered and the girls watched with amusement as I stepped to the mic. Jealous because I walk around with Natsume and you don't, much? Wow, I just sounded like one of them. Well, get ready to see me not fail.

"Okay, yeah. I'm just gonna sing in place of Reo tonight and I hope you guys enjoy." I said.

**You Found Me- Kelly Clarkson**

**Is this a dream?**

**If it is**

**Please don't wake me from this high**

**I'd become comfortably numb**

**Until you opened up my eyes**

**To what it's like**

**When everything's right**

**I can't believe**

**You found me**

**When no one else was lookin'**

**How did you know just where I would be?**

**Yeah, you broke through**

**All of my confusion**

**The ups and the downs**

**And you still didn't leave**

**I guess that you saw what nobody could see**

**You found me**

**You found me**

**So, here we are**

**That's pretty far**

**When you think of where we've been**

**No going back**

**I'm fading out**

**All that has faded me within**

**You're by my side**

**Now everything's fine**

**I can't believe**

**You found me**

**When no one else was lookin'**

**How did you know just where I would be?**

**Yeah, you broke through**

**All of my confusion**

**The ups and the downs**

**And you still didn't leave**

**I guess that you saw what nobody could see**

**You found me**

**You found me**

**And I was hiding'**

**Til you came along**

**And showed me where I belong**

**You found me**

**When no one else was lookin'**

**How did you know?**

**How did you know?**

**You found me**

**When no one else was lookin'**

**How did you know just where I would be?**

**Yeah, you broke through**

**All of my confusion**

**The ups and the downs**

**And you still didn't leave**

**I guess that you saw what nobody could see**

**You found me**

**(You found me)**

**(When no one else was lookin')**

**You found me**

**(How did you know just where I would be?)**

**You broke through**

**All of my confusion**

**The ups and the downs**

**And you still didn't leave**

**I guess that you saw what nobody could see**

**The good and the bad**

**And the things in between**

**You found me**

**You found me**

Everybody, or at least all the guys, were cheering. The girls were gaping at me as I gave a sarcastic smile towards them. When everybody finally quieted down there was only one applaud that began. I didn't want see him, but he was there. Reo Mouri. Nobody spoke, feeling the tension between both of us.

"Mikan Sakura. My what a surprise." he said with a sarcastic smile and an evil grin.

"Reo." I growled.

"Oh I'm sorry. You don't want to be addressed that way, do you? Do you want me to call you the "Million Alice Mercenary"? Or do you want me to call you "Satan's Daughter"?" he asked. I glared at him and jumped down from the stage, slowly walking to him.

"If you want a fight with me, we'll take it elsewhere. But if you want to die here, I'll have my brother handle it." I said, snapping once. My brother appeared next to me.

"But can he do that if he's asleep? Sleep." Reo said, directing his alice at my brother. I didn't have the time to stop it since our distance was so close and his alice works like sound waves.

"So it's obvious you want to fight me. Let's take it where there aren't people to observe your death." I said threateningly, my voice now taking the tone I use when I kill someone.

"I'd rather fight you here where all the students can see the monster you really are. And if I were to fail then I could just use the students as an army." Reo said.

"_Natsume, Ruka, Hotaru, round the students together so that I can put a nullification barrier around them." I telepathically said to my friends._

"Everybody move over here!" Ruka called from the area near the stage. Natsume and Hotaru helped them on the stage and there I put a barrier of nullification for them and a barrier that would prevent them from getting out until I was done with Reo.

"You can't make them your army if I put a nullification barrier around them. You can't use them if they have a prevention barrier around them either. They can't get out until I'm done." I said. I felt a thump against the barrier and turned to see what it could be. Natsume glared at me.

"Mikan, get me the fuck out of this barrier! You have no freaking alice control devices and you can't kill him alone! You'll take it overboard!" He yelled. I turned back to Reo.

"Before you and me spar, perhaps you would like a warm up with my guards." Reo said. About a hundred or so guards appeared in front of Reo. He stood with a smirk. At the same time, I used 100 deadly alices and killed the guards within seconds.

"I'm warmed up." I said, coldly. The smirk was still on his face as I waited there for him, but before I asked him a question.

"Would you like a quick death with my alice, or a slow one hand to hand?" I asked.

"I'd rather have a chance of landing a hit on you. Hand to hand seeing as my alice won't affect you either way." he answered. A second later, he lunged. I dodged his attacks cleanly and found moments to jab him, without getting pounded myself. It wasn't really a challenge. His attacks were slightly on the slow side and I felt like I was just messing with him rather than battling. In the end, and after a long while because of my laze for finishing him off, I managed to hit the most important points of his body. He laid on the floor, withering slowly.

"When it comes to people like you, I don't just hit those places where it paralyzes you. I hit those that are deadly." I said. He couldn't even speak.

"And not to add salt to your wounds, but don't you feel kind of ashamed that you, one, didn't land a hit on me, and two, I killed you with high heels and a dress." I said. I watched as his eyes slowly closed and his body limped. Letting go of the barrier of nullification and prevention, I collapsed extremely quickly.

Natsume's POV

After he died, she immediately collapsed to the ground. Knowing that the barrier should vanish if she's unconscious, I jumped right off the stage and ran towards Mikan. Ruka and Imai were right behind me. The people on the stage were just there, cowering in fear and in shock. I checked her pulse. Like at the beach, faint but there.

"Wake up her damn brother." I said. Imai went over to the sleeping brother and kicked his arm. He woke up with a grunt and asking what happened. He ran over when he saw Mikan limp in my arms.

"Something tells me, she's gonna be out of it for a while." I said.

"What happened? Why wasn't I notified?!" he asked.

"You were there, but Reo commanded you to sleep." Imai said.

"And then Mikan had to finish the job instead of you." Ruka said.

"It was hand to hand combat but she took out 100 men with a hundred different alices at the same time." I explained. Narumi came up to us.

"Is she okay?" he asked.

"Yes." I said shortly, walking away to her room. I placed her on the bed and sat down on the couch. She just got out of the hospital and now she's supposed to be back in it.

A Week Later Natsume's POV

I woke up from the couch and banged my head against something.

"Owww." I heard a voice say. I opened my eyes and saw Mikan rubbing her forehead.

"Hey, you're up." I said.

"Yep! Bright and happy!" she said, spinning around to show me how much energy she has from recovery. The door opened and Rui walked in. He stopped when he saw Mikan standing and his face had a very upset glare. He slowly walked towards us. It was completely unexpected. Completely, when he slapped Mikan across the face. She hadn't dropped to the floor, just stumbled back. Her bangs were covering her eyes and she didn't say anything.

"Dude, what the fuck is wrong with you?! Are you crazy?! You just slapped your sister across the face!" I yelled. I'm mad. She wakes up and he just slaps her. He paid no mind to my comment.

"Why are you always so damn reckless with your alice?! You always do something! You cant just, not use your alice?! It's collapse, after collapse, after collapse! I'm getting tired of it Mikan! It's too much responsibility to handle you! You just can't stay still! You don't do anything good for a change! All you do is depend on your alice and all that does is cause misery!!" he yelled. That infuriated me.

"You are crazy! So she collapses when she uses her alice, that's not her fault! And you're saying it's too much responsibility to handle her?! She handled you and your family members for years, and she still does!!! You know what kind of responsibility that is! There are 12 of you and you only depend on 1 of the 12! She depends on her alice because that was the only thing she had to support all of you! You expect her to get out of that because you got a job! You're damn wrong! And she wakes up after a week, and you smack her! You smacked your sister! You're deranged!" I yelled. He punched me to the floor before I could even get a chance to dodge.

"Don't act like you know me, or my family." he said. I didn't reply but looked towards Mikan when I heard a sniff. Her eyes were closed and tears were dribbling out of them.

"Mikan…" I said, softly.

"Please don't fight over me! I know all I ever do is use my alice, and I'm sorry. It's a horrible thing to do to everyone. And, and I always make people fight or kill each other or argue. And I realize it everyday. But both of you are so close to me and I don't want you to argue. I'm tired of causing everybody trouble but there's no way I can just stop using my alice." she sobbed. I got up from the floor and hugged her.

"I won't argue with him. You just tell me if you need someone to defend you. I'll always be here. And you're alice isn't a horrible thing. Remember that alices are gifts." I whispered in her ear. She nodded into my shirt and I let go and stepped back.

"Fine. I took it overboard, but I just can't worry this much. I'm not used to it yet." Rui said. He walked away.

"Thank you, Natsume." she said, faintly as I walked out of the door. I turned to her and nodded before leaving.

Next Day Mikan's POV

I knocked on Natsume's door. He opened the door and looked at me. He was in his pajama pants and without a shirt.

"Let's go to the pub!" I said, knowing that the people at the pub will help me forget all about the occurrence yesterday and probably make Natsume be at home too.

"Let me get ready." he said. He walked to his room as I sat myself on the couch. He never gives me a complaint. Not about time, work, or anything. He always defends me. Whether it be a fear or a person. He's just so perfect. I love him so much. I wish he'd love me. A tear dropped down my eye but I wiped it away quickly, sensing that he was on his way here.

"Let's go." he said. I walked behind him over the gate and to the parking lot. We got on his motorcycle.

"You're pretty quiet today." he said.

"You're always quiet." I replied.

"Touché." he said. I laughed.

"I don't think I was expecting you ever to say that in your life. I've heard it and I will never forget it again." I laughed.

"Well then, I'll just remain quiet." he said.

"No, no, no! Your voice is nice! It's just the words you come out with surprise me. It's nice to hear you talk. You were so quiet when I first met you. I like that you talk to me more now." I said. He continued to drive the motorcycle and I just leaned my head on his back until the ride was done. We walked into the pub and…again?

"Guys, we're here!" I yelled. Mr. Hyuuga came out and pinched my cheek, which greeted plenty of roars.

"You guy's shouldn't leave for too long." he said.

"I'm sure it wasn't too bad." I said.

"Mikan, it was a ghost town." he said. I giggled and began going around and talking to people.

Natsume's POV

"So what's been going on?" my dad asked.

"Nothing new. I love her. She doesn't have any feelings for me." I said.

"So did you tell her about Aoi yet?" he asked. I shook my head.

"You're not gonna tell wifey about her?" he asked until Mikan appeared.

"Tell me about who, hubby?" she asked.

"Hubby?" my dad asked.

"Since everybody insists I am Natsume's wife and they call me wifey, I gave Natsume that nickname. It would only be reasonable that I call him hubby if he calls me wifey." she explained.

"She accepts the marriage!" my dad yelled. The pub cheered.

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" they cheered. Mikan and I both shook our heads to them, but they continued. 5 minutes of head shaking has tired me a lot, so I just grabbed Mikan's chin and crashed her lips on mine. I savored the taste for a second and then pulled out of it.

"I understand. That was good thinking. It was obvious they weren't going to stop." Mikan said with a blush on her face.

"I'm gonna be lenient and not call you tomato face today." I said. She had a pout on her face.

"I'll make you blush one day. I'll make you blush in a way that you can't hide it!" she said. I rolled my eyes and looked to the pub, where its members were gossiping about what they had observed.

"I think you blew up their gossip meters with that stunt, though. They sound like those girls in chick flicks I've heard about." she said.

"You've watched a chick flick?" I asked.

"No but I was eating in a café once and heard some girls talking about it." she said. I will never tire of being amazed at how she's gone through so much and yet gone through so little. She's missed so little and yet missed so much. And she still smiles. I smiled at her.

"Well, let's go see our so called son." I said.

"Youichi?" she asked.

"Yep. He hasn't seen us in a while, so he must be worried." I said. She nodded. We said goodbye to the pub while they made and blew kisses at us. I stuck my middle finger at them and Mikan laughed at it. I gave a nod to my father as a goodbye and to explain to the pub that the kiss was just to get them to shut up. We drove to the academy on my motorcycle and after parking, jumped over the wall. We walked around first and when we saw anybody, they would cower at the sight of Mikan.

"I was expecting this. Maybe I should just stay in my room." Mikan said as we approached the classroom.

"It's fine. How could high schoolers contaminate elementary kids?" I asked.

"Easily, but you go in first then." she said. I nodded and approached the door, listening first.

"Your nee-chan is a monster!" one boy said.

"No, she's not!" Youichi objected.

"She killed 100 men at the same time!" another boy said. Of course only boys will say it. The girls adore him too much to insult his nee-chan.

"No she didn't! And even if she did, she didn't want to!" Youichi said. I decided to walk in.

"Natsume-sama!" all of the kids said, when I walked in. The boys had admiring eyes and the girls with love ones. I ignored them and picked up Youichi.

"Natsume-sama! Thank god that that monster didn't kill you! We don't know what we would do without you!" a girl out of many said. Mikan came through the door, her face stoic.

"Nee-chan?" Youichi asked as he got out of my arms and into Mikan's.

"Hey Youichi." she said in a low but sweet voice.

"Where have you been?" he asked.

Mikan's POV

I heard what the kids had said and decided to walk in but stay at the door.

"Nee-chan?" Youichi asked as he got out of Natsume's arms and into mine.

"Hey Youichi." I said in a low but sweet voice.

"Where have you been?" he asked.

"Let's just say that Mikan-nee-chan was still feeling sick." I said with a small smile.

"Are you sure you weren't out killing more people?" a girl said. I let the smile on my face drop. I put Youichi on the floor.

"I thought so. I should be going, Natsume. Maybe, I'm just not fated to live a happy life." I said. Knowing he would stop me if I didn't, I ran out of the room. It was obvious that my killer ways would appear and shun people away from me. The tears began dripping down my face as I ran.

"Why me?" I asked myself. I felt something latch onto my wrist but I didn't turn around as I halted.

"You need to stop running so fast. And you need to stop running." Natsume said. I didn't look at him, but wiped my tears on my face with my free hand. I turned with a smile.

"It's okay Natsume. I'm not running." I said.

"Stop lying." he said. I don't know why, but it infuriated me.

"What do you expect me to do Natsume?!" I yelled. He didn't answer.

"If people don't want me near them, what can I do?! I'm not gonna stay and ruin other people's lives because mine is horrible! You defended me from my brother yesterday but you know he's right! My alices are troublesome! For me and others! I'm just not cut to live among people normally like you or Youichi. Or even Luna, for god's sake!" I yelled. I stood there, tears spilling out of my eyes, and him quiet. Until he gave a tug at my arm, pulling me into a hug. He hugged me and I hugged him back.

"How many time's do I have to tell you, it's not your fault, before you get it?" he started, softly. I cried over his shoulder, quietly, listening to his words.

"You didn't choose your alice or your alice shape, or your life. It played out how it did and you've done nothing wrong. You are not troublesome and you are not as much of a responsibility like people think you are because you can take care of yourself. You only try to help people. You're a great person, Mikan. And if anybody has any objections to that, they can take it to me. You're my responsibility. So what if the people in the academy give you the cold shoulder? I've given them the cold shoulder all my life and they dealt with it. You can too, Mikan. Why can't you see? And you'll always have me, Ruka, Imai, Youichi, the pub, and your huge family. Don't worry about anything. Everything will be okay, because you have true friends." he said. His words helped me plenty. I backed out of the hug and wiped the rest of the tears off my face.

"Natsume, you are a true true friend." I said. Though that's probably all we'll ever be, I'm happy putting my feelings aside for our friendship.

"Natsume?! Did you find Mikan?! Youichi told us she ran away and we came running!" Ruka called, running with Hotaru towards us. I stepped to the side and waved so they would see me and my really cheesy grin. They slowed down as I looked back at Natsume.

"True friends." Natsume repeated. I nodded as Ruka and Hotaru approached us. I was shot to the ground.

"Meet the baka gun. It's gonna shoot you whenever you do something like that again." Hotaru said. I stood up, dusting myself off. Youichi jumped into my arms.

"Nee-chan, it was nasty! Ruka-nii and Imai-san were making kissey faces at each other on the couch." Youichi said, making a kissey face imitation. I laughed while Ruka just blushed.

"Well, that's because they're boyfriend and girlfriend. They're supposed to make kissey faces at each other." I explained.

"So are you and Natsume-nii, boyfriend and girlfriend?" he asked. I immediately shook my head with a blush as Ruka and Hotaru smirked.

"We don't make kissey faces at each other! Of course we're not boyfriend and girlfriend! I mean, where did you get that idea from?!" I stuttered quickly.

"Well you and Natsume-nii are always hugging. And you're always so happy together like mommy and daddy." he said. I stood quietly with a blush, while Ruka and Hotaru chuckled at me.

"Oh shut up! A five year old saw you making out and called it nasty!" I said. This time Natsume and I chuckled. They turned around and stomped off.

"Wait, nee-chan. So you're not getting married to nii-san?" Youichi asked. Natsume chuckled while I turned red again. He took Youichi from my arms.

"We are only friends, Youichi." Natsume cleared up

"Well, you guys are gonna get married when you get big, right?" he asked. I fell to the ground.

"We might as well take him to the pub. He's one of them." I said, standing up. Natsume nodded and we went back to the pub again. I walked through the door with Youichi in my arms and Natsume trailing right behind me.

"Who's the kid?" Mr. Hyuuga asked, gathering the attention of the pub members. Youichi tightened his grip on my shirt though he kept his usual classroom face on. That face reminds me so much of Natsume's.

"They won't hurt you. They're our friends." I muttered to Youichi. He nodded but kept the same face as Natsume.

"Pub, meet Youichi. Youichi, meet the pub." I said with a smile. They cheered for a second but then stopped to observe Youichi.

"He looks just like Natsume, guys! A mini-Natsume! He's a Hyuuga! Natsume took it home!" Takara yelled. I giggled and then held out a hand to stop their roars and cheers.

"This is Youichi _Hijiri_, the boy we found on vacation. There will be no vulgar talk around him, got it? I'm watching you all like hawks. And you all know I can be a scary woman when I choose to be, if you do anything. We brought him here because he's one of you guys." I said.

"One of us?" the pub asked.

"He insists that Mikan and I are getting married to each other in the future, despite how many times we tell him that we aren't." Natsume answered. The pub roared and Miroku took Youichi, or mini-Natsume, from my hands.

"Coochi, coochi, coo!" Miroku said in a baby tone, holding out a finger to tickle Youichi's stomach. Youichi slapped his finger away.

"I'm not a child, old man." Youichi said. Natsume, the pub, and I all laughed.

"Youichi is a very smart six year old." I added.

"Reminds me of Natsume when he was a kid." Mr. Hyuuga said, watching as Youichi was passed around the pub.

"Yeah, but Youichi can be a big mush ball when it comes to people he's close to." I said.

"Natsume's a big mushball too." Mr. Hyuuga said, messing up Natsume's hair. Natsume didn't bother to hide his great irritation about the conversation and I raised an eyebrow.

"Natsume? A mushball?" I asked.

"He got you that cell phone in your pocket didn't he? He got you a few other things too, right?" Mr. Hyuuga pointed out.

"You're right! Natsume, you big mushball!" I said. There was a small tint of red on his cheeks.

"You blushing mushball!" I added. The tint vanished.

"I don't know what you're talking about." he said. I stomped my foot.

"How do you always do that?!" I asked. He merely smirked. I grabbed a whisky and chugged it.

"I'll get you one of these days." I said. He reached over the counter and pulled a Bud Light out from behind it and left it at that.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Next Day Natsume's POV

I woke up with Mikan not next to me and Youichi still gripping onto my shirt. We had fallen asleep that way because we came from the the pub late and Youichi insisted on sleeping with both of us. I gently pulled his hands off my shirt so he wouldn't wake and got up. I checked the closet and knocked on the bathroom door but she wasn't in either places. I walked out to the living room and found her on the couch. I shook her lightly to see if she was in an alice sleep or just regularly sleeping. Her eyes fluttered open slowly.

"Morning Natsume." she said with a yawn as she stood up. I followed her as she went to the kitchen.

"So what should I make? I've never cooked breakfast before." she said. I stood up from my seat at the counter.

"If you've never cooked breakfast before, then I think I should make the food." I said taking the pan out of her hand. She puffed her cheeks with a pout but sat in my seat silently.

"You're okay from your mission, right. You weren't in one of your alice sleeps just now." I said while cooking. I gave a glance at her and she nodded.

"It wasn't an alice type of mission. A brute one." she said. I nodded and brought the plates to the counter.

"You shouldn't do missions every night. It's not healthy." I said. She shrugged/

"It's not a choice I make. It's an obligation." she said. I rolled my eyes.

"Don't try to act so mature, kid." I said, messing up her hair in the process. Her being so quiet is bothering me. She pouted.

"I'm not a kid and I am mature. You're not my father." she said in a childish tone of voice.

"Oh please, Mikan. We both know you can't be mature for your life. You've already done enough mature things, so you can be a kid right now." I said. She smiled at me.

"That's nice of you, Natsume." Ruka said, coming in through the front door with Imai. Youichi walked out of the bedroom too.

"What are you guys doing here so early?" Mikan asked.

"We have classes today. Did you forget there was such a thing as school?" Ruka answered.

"Youichi and I will get ready in my bathroom. You can start getting ready here." I said. Youichi followed me to my room. We were finished quickly and were waiting for Mikan once again in her dorm. Imai was in Mikan's bedroom , Youichi in the living room watching tv, and Ruka and me were sitting at the counter of the kitchen **(if you haven't noticed yet, the special star dorms are like hotel suites)**.

"So you guys sleep together, now?" Ruka asked with a smirk. I sighed.

"We got back from the pub late so Youichi insisted that we all sleep together. It wasn't our decision." I said.

"Excuses, excuses." he said. I rolled my eyes as Mikan and Imai came out.

"Are we gonna drop Youichi off?" Mikan asked.

"I don't want to go to class today. I wanna stay with you guys." Youichi said.

"You shouldn't skip classes…" Mikan started until I interrupted.

"Let him stay wit us. He went to classes all the other days." I said. She sighed and nodded. Youichi jumped in her arms and kissed her on the cheek, which made her giggle. We walked down and Mikan kept her face stoic as people gave her glares and cowered away from her. We got into homeroom with the same reactions from our classmates. Imai and Ruka took the seats behind us. I took Mikan's window seat, Youichi sat in my seat in the middle, and Mikan sat in Ruka's seat in the aisle. The arrangement was just to accommodate Youichi in the middle. Mikan was quiet as she heard the disgusting words of our classmates. Narumi began classes a few minutes after we were seated. Youichi fell asleep half way through Misaki's class.

Mikan's POV

I was paying attention to all of my class to get my mind off the gossip thoughts in the middle of class. I didn't expect anybody to come anywhere near me. It was Jinno's class to add onto the surprise.

"Ms. Shoda!" Jinno started.

"Jinno-sensei, you can give me detention later if you want. All I care about right now is that I want to know why. I bet everybody wants to know why and how. So why?" Sumire said, looking at me disgustingly. She was standing in the aisle right next to me, her hands on her hip and a disgusted scowl on her face.

"Why what?" I asked calmly, as if not knowing what she was talking about.

"You know what I'm talking about. Why'd you kill him? How did you kill him? Nobody can have that many alices so they couldn't have been solely yours. But then again, you killed him in less than a minute without alices. A monster like you could pull it off." Shoda said.

"All of those alices belong to me." I said, keeping my voice as calm, stoic, and monotonous like I usually do in class.

"I demand she be put in dangerous ability class and be locked away in a cell or something." Shoda said, twisting her body to Jinno. Before he could say anything, I spoke.

"I am in dangerous ability class. And even if the academy wanted to lock me up in a cell, it wouldn't contain me and my brother wouldn't allow it. You just weren't there when I told people that Rui-sensei is my brother." I explained.

"And we do not lock people up in cells." Jinno added.

"None of that explains why you killed Mouri-san. He hadn't done anything and you killed him. In less than one minute, mercilessly. I think you were even messing with him." she said.

"I wasn't necessarily messing with him. He wasn't a challenge. And I have my reasons for killing the man. Ones that you wouldn't believe." I replied.

"That I wouldn't believe? I probably won't, but tell me anyway. Amuse me with the pathetic reason why he provoked you to his death." she said. I rolled my eyes and looked forward.

"You may continue your lesson whenever you would like sensei." I said. Shoda looked angry and took my shoulder and pulled to face me towards her. I made sure my eyes had the same look I had when I was gonna kill Reo. She let go of my shoulder and backed up a bit.

"You wouldn't kill me would you?" she asked, stepping back. I shook my head.

"I have no reason to kill you." I said. She looked irritated at the moment.

"Then why the fuck did you kill him?! I'm not obsessed with the man or anything but he is a damn celebrity here. He's a damn celebrity all over Japan! What reason would there be for you to kill him?!" she yelled.

"Reo Mouri is part of the AAO. His goal was to kill everybody at the dance. And once that was over he planned to attack the younger students, knowing that they aren't able to control their alice as well as students like us." I finally explained.

"That's a complete and utter lie! Insanity! What would Mouri-san gain from being in the AAO?!" she yelled. I didn't speak, letting her get her frustrations out. I know I shouldn't have killed him in front of them but he left me no choice either way. I couldn't teleport him away without holding onto him.

"You're a monster! You horrible bitch! You killed him for fun! You killed him and those guards! For fun! You are the worst person I have ever met! I'm surprised you could ever befriend anybody! Sane and beautiful people like Nogi, Hyuuga, and Imai! People way out of your league!" she yelled. I felt Natsume shift to get up. I stretched my hand back, placing it lightly on his chest to stop him from taking any sort of action.

"Don't worry about it Natsume. Protesting or attacking her, won't calm anybody." I said to him, not looking back and still looking Shoda in the eye. He was gonna protest me but I spoke before he could say anything.

"I've heard it enough times to not be affected by it from somebody who doesn't even know what I'm like. Five years of the same treatment helps plenty in life. And you warned me yesterday, remember." I said, releasing my hand and turning to him with a small smile. I hoped to myself that it didn't look sad in anyway but my hopes didn't come true when he shot me a scolding look. I turned back to Shoda.

"Whether you choose to believe me or not is your decision. You've made yours so there is no point in further discussing the situation. You should have a seat now before JinJin gets mad." I said.

"JINJIN?!" JinJin yelled. I shot him a look and he brought his voice down.

"You even scare the crap out of Jinno! Do you still believe that you're not a monster?! I don't understand why he hasn't shocked you yet!" Shoda yelled.

"Because JinJin knows what my alices are." I answered simply.

"And what exactly are they?! Obviously you must have a long list with what you did the other day!" she yelled.

"Shut up and sit down. I don't have to explain myself to you if you don't believe shit about what I say." I snapped at her, speaking much colder than before. She backed up slowly, not taking her eyes off me, suspecting that I'll attack or something. She sat and I turned to JinJin, giving him a nod to resume his lesson. He turned slowly to the board and continued uneasily. Natsume turned to me.

"What did I tell you about those fake smiles with me?!" he whispered scoldingly.

"You'll wake up Youichi." I said, not wanting to be lectured. He returned to his original position, that wasn't almost leaning over Youichi and looked to the board. He glanced at me every once in a while probably checking to see if I'm upset or breaking down or something. But I kept my straight classroom poker face.

After Classes Mikan's POV

Nobody approached me, like Shoda did, for the rest of the day. Though Shoda did call me a few more things during different periods and if I passed her in the hallway. Thank the lord that nobody else said anything though. I probably _would _have broken down if too many people called me things at the same time. No matter how many times people tell me I'm a monster, it still hurts. I know I can do horrible things but people don't know that I can do kind things too. They won't give me a chance either. I walked with Natsume and Youichi to the wall of the school. We jumped over and rode Natsume's motorcycle to the pub. I walked in quietly with Natsume and Youichi and stood behind the counter.

"What's up, Mi-chan? You seem down. No smiles today?" Gin asked, approaching the counter. A few others came up as well, sitting themselves on the counter. I prepared their regulars and placed them in front of them. Youichi was off talking to some other pub members and Natsume was sitting in the corner of the counter.

"I'm just not in the mood today." I said, serving Natsume a bud light. I reached down and pulled out a bottle of whisky. I poured it in a cup for myself. I sat down on a little stool on my side of the counter that I conjured. I shot the whisky.

"You told me it didn't affect you, but it obviously did." Natsume said. I rolled my eyes.

"I don't feel like being scolded, Natsume." I said.

"You don't feel like it but you should. You said you were used to it, but you're not. It still affects you and you lied to me. Just like you don't like being lied to, neither do I." he said.

"I didn't lie and it doesn't affect me. You never know. Maybe I'm not in the mood because I got a B+ on my science quiz." I said.

"What doesn't affect her? What happened today?" the people at the counter asked. I rolled my eyes.

"Nothing happened. It doesn't matter either way." I said.

"Some girl insulted her. She said things that nobody would like being said to them. Especially in Mikan's case." Natsume said. I shot a glare at him.

"If you want, Mikan, we can go beat the crap out of her." Aruta said. I gave a small smile for a second.

"No thank you. I'm used to the things she said and I'll get over it soon." I said. Natsume sucked his teeth.

"Don't get all mad, Natsume. If you were to stick with me forever, you don't know how many times you would hear people call me that." I said.

"Calling you a bitch and a monster is not anything you should just forget about. And whore isn't anything better either. If you had just let me smack her…" he said.

"Smacking her wouldn't have done any good. Just drop it already, Natsume." I said.

"But it would have shut her up." he said, shortly. I rolled my eyes and shot another whisky. I talked to the guys about their missions and everything, giving a bit of advice here and there to the newer mercenaries with a few problems, just to get off today's topic.

"Did she have a reason to get all pissed at you?" Aruta asked bringing the topic back.

"No." Natsume scoffed

"Yes." I said. They gestured me to go on.

"So, I went to the dance with Natsume, and there one of our teachers announced that Reo Mouri was gonna perform. Hearing his name activated my premonition alice and I had a premonition that he would try to attack the school by getting rid of the high schoolers first by putting them to sleep and stabbing them and then going for the smaller students afterwards. He just didn't happen to know I went to school there. He acted calm on the outside. Even playful. I wanted to take it where students wouldn't see anything, but he would not agree, so I had to kill him on the spot. AAO operatives should not be anywhere near students. I'd rather kill the man in front of everybody, then let him have his way." I explained.

"That still doesn't give her any reason to insult you like that." Natsume said.

"I killed a hundred men at the same time. Of course she would be scared. And she changed it into anger. Anger for scaring the crap out of everyone. Anger for killing a celebrity they looked up to. It was obvious they wouldn't believe my side of the story." I said. Natsume stood up and slammed his fist on the counter. Seeing as neither of us were in the mood, I hadn't been surprised at his outburst. Everybody in the pub turned to look at the scene.

"Why are you defending her?!" he yelled at me.

"Because I understand! She's scared! Everybody's scared! And I'm the cause of it! She should be angry!" I yelled back, standing up as well.

"So you just let her get all her anger out while you sit quietly and take the crap?!" he yelled.

"That's what I've been doing my entire life! I'll stick to it! There's nothing else that I can do!" I yelled, tears now developing in my eyes. Seeing my tears he calmed down and sat in his seat.

"I'm sorry, I yelled. I just don't like that you take crap from people and don't do anything about it." he said, talking lower now. I wiped my tears quickly.

"It's fine." I said, sitting back down. The pub continued to stare. Natsume gave a glance back at them and they immediately turned back in their seats to their own conversations.

"Sorry Natsume. I know you were just looking out for me." I said, a bit later, walking up to him. He nodded.

"It's okay. I know you've been through some shit and caught on to some habits I would rather you not have, but you'll be my friend no matter what habits you have." he said with a sigh. I smiled brightly, happy that he understands. I gave him a huge bear hug and let go.

"You're always so understanding you mushball!" I said, messing up his hair. Youichi walked up to us.

"Nee-chan, I think we should go. It's getting late now." he said. I looked at the time.

"Yeah, you're right. We have homework to do, too. You're lucky you got to skip class You-chan. You can just watch tv until we're done." I said. He nodded and began to walk towards the door. We said our goodbyes to the pub from our doorway and got to the school the same way we got out. Youichi, once again, insisted that we sleep together. I wonder why.

12 Midnight Mikan's POV

I awoke to constant tossing and the sound of crying and looked to Youichi. I slightly tapped Natsume to wake up. He turned and looked at Youichi.

"What's wrong with him?" he asked.

"I don't know, maybe he's having a nightmare." I said with a shrug.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked. I punched his shoulder and gently shook Youichi. He didn't wake up completely but began to say words.

"Okaa-san?" he asked. His eyes do not open. I looked to Natsume for advice and he gestured me to go on.

"What is it You-chan?" I asked.

"Where's bear?" he asked. Natsume shrugged when I glanced towards him. I glanced into Youichi's mind for the image of the bear and then manifested it. I passed it to him and he snuggled it against his body and face.

"Here you go. Now you go back to sleep and if you need anything okaa-san and otou-san are right next to you." I said. He nodded and dozed back off into his complete sleep.

"I guess I'm a mother now." I said.

"And you dragged me in. I'm, apparently, a father." he said. I gave him a cheesy grin.

"Oh don't act like you don't care about Youichi, you mushball. I mean, he looks like your offspring already. The only difference is the hair and eye color. Besides, I think we're all gonna be sleeping together more often. I think Youichi likes to consider us his mother and father despite calling us nii-chan and nee-chan." I said. Natsume rolled his eyes and went back to bed. I went back to bed with a smile. At least, now I know why Youichi always insists on sleeping together.

Next Day Mikan's POV

We decided that Youichi would go to classes and we would go to the pub for the day. Mr. Hyuuga said he would cover serving duty for me so I could sit around and catch up with members of the pub. I sat down with Hiroshima. He was one of the older members of the pub. One that watched Natsume grow up when he was young.

"So did Natsume tell you about Aoi, yet?" he asked me after a few conversations.

"Aoi?" I asked.

"Natsume's little sister?" he said, sounding like he was trying to remind me.

"Natsume always talked as if he was an only child." I said.

"I guess he didn't tell you then." he said.

"Oh, so he's been keeping secrets from me. Please explain the story." I said.

"I don't know if I should." he said.

"I'll eventually find out, whether you tell me or not. I guess I'll just have to wait until Natsume tells me." I said with a shrug.

"Maybe I should tell you. I think he trusts you and really cares for you. He'll tell you soon." he said. I nodded, glad that he thinks that Natsume trusts and cares for me.

"Well he has this little sister Aoi. I take it you've never seen or heard of his mother either. Natsume's alice and Mr. Hyuuga running a pub was a secret they had hid from his mother. She was one that overreacts plenty and always stresses things. But one day she followed both of them to the pub. She had left Aoi in a daycare that day. When she walked through the doors she gasped. Natsume was training himself with the fire alice at that very moment and Mr. Hyuuga was just handing out beers to everybody. But she completely freaked out." he started.

Hiroshima's POV

_Flashback (Him remembering is the story he tells)_

_Everybody was relaxing having a good time. Natsume was playing around with his fire alice. Putting on a show for me since it was my birthday. Then the doors burst open. My jaw dropped at the woman standing at the door. Everybody recognized her as Mr. Hyuuga's second wife, after his first died from Aoi's birth. She looked like she was about to yell and she did._

"_What the hell is this?!!!!!" she screamed._

"_Mira, what are you doing here?" Mr. Hyuuga asked quickly._

"_I knew you were hiding something from me!!!! I knew something was suspicious!!! And what is that?!!! Natsume, what are you doing?!!!!!!" she screamed._

"_Don't yell at him. He's just practicing something. A natural talent!" I said, quickly._

"_Natural talent?!!! What kind of natural talent is it that my son is moving fire to his will?!!" she screamed._

"_It's called an alice and that's why he goes to a different school than Aoi." Mr. Hyuuga said._

"_No!!! My husband runs a bar with men with guns and swords and knives everywhere! What's more, my son comes here everyday and can bend fire to his will!!!! I demand a divorce right now! You keep Natsume and I keep Aoi!!!! Natsume can not see Aoi at all and you can not see me!!" she said._

"_You can't deny Natsume contact with Aoi!" Mr. Hyuuga objected._

"_Aoi and I are moving out. And the only contact he can have is writing letters to her. But he will not have our address. If he ever meets up with her, I will put a restraining order on both of you." she yelled. Natsume looked taken back by the words of his mother. She stormed out and tears began swelling in Natsume's eyes. Aoi and Natsume were close, despite the teasing he gave her sometimes. His only friends were Aoi and Ruka seeing as all other people were only fans. And from then on, he never saw Aoi again. He sent letters, never received the address of his mother and Aoi. And he hands it only to his father for him to fill out the address. Every month he sends one or two letters._

_End of Flashback_

Mikan's POV

"That's so sad. He never told me." I said. Hiroshima nodded.

"Do you happen to know how long it takes for Aoi to receive the letter?" I asked.

"It takes about a day to reach the post office and be sorted and another day to be sent to her. So, two days." Hiroshima responded.

"We should get going. Thanks for filling me in Hiroshima. You did me a huge favor." I said, kissing him on the cheek as a thank you. There was a slight blush on his cheeks as I left. I grabbed Natsume and led him out.

"This entire week, no sleeping in my room. I'm gonna be busy with missions and other things." I told him as we reached my room. Natsume raised an eyebrow at me. I shooed him away to his own room and walked into my room quickly. I opened my laptop the minute I got in and opened up to my favorite search engine.

"Cities where mailing time is only two days away from Tokyo." I said aloud as I typed. It gave me various results and I chose the first one. A drop down list of cities near Tokyo with 2 day mailing time came on. Grabbing a paper from my desk drawer, I copied down all the cities. Shutting off my laptop quickly and stashing the paper in my desk, I got ready for my mission. I had two tonight, but they were gonna be a piece of cake.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Next Day Mikan's POV

I woke up and put on sweats, going over to Natsume's room. He seemed to be ready for our jog.

"You know how long it's been since I have been able to jog in the morning. It's crazy Natsume." I said as we started out.

"Yeah, and I can actually keep up with you with all the running I've done." he replied. I smiled and we continued running. We had small conversations here and there, some about Youichi, others about the pub, and others about missions. I knew it would come up because Natsume just loves to be asking if I'm alright during my missions.

"You should seriously let me help you on a mission." he said. I shook my head.

"I don't need help with my missions. They're simple in my terms. The only thing that can do any harm to me is if I overuse my alice and pass out, which will happen much less if you take off my alice control devices." I said. He shook his head this time. I sighed. Then a girl came in front of us. We both stopped to see what she was gonna say. Obviously an insult. By her posture, you could tell she was a shy girl, one that was embarrassed about something, though.

"What do you want?" I said, my face blank and my eyes and voice cold.

"You see, Sakura-san. I'm from the high school division, like you, and I've seen you jog here before and I was hoping you could fulfill a request for me." the girl said. Natsume's eyebrow rose.

"What is that certain request?" I asked.

"My boyfriend broke up with me recently. We had been going out for three years and when I said that I loved him, he laughed and said I was just his play toy. That he had been going behind my back all the time. I have been crying for weeks and I just can't take the pain anymore. So I was hoping you could kill me." she said. I kept my face the same as she looked up directly to my face.

"I refuse your request." I said. The girl looked stunned.

"Why?" she asked.

"You, unlike me, have a happy future ahead of yourself. Killing yourself over a guy is not worth anything. You'll find a new boyfriend, and you'll have your happily ever after that all girls talk about. You haven't had the type of misfortune and bad luck I have had. And that goes to show you have room in your destiny to keep on living." I said. She stood there and I began to jog again. She stopped me by calling out to me.

"Wait!" she called. I turned around and stared her in the eye.

"If you can kill Reo Mouri easily why can't you kill me?" she asked.

"I don't kill people for fun, despite what everybody else says. There is no reason behind killing you. There was one behind killing Reo Mouri." I said. She dropped her hand and I walked up to her.

"Listen, Nobara. You have a whole life ahead of you. Girls go through plenty of break ups, but they know that they have to get over it and look for the one they were destined to be with. Suicide will not give you that option. And if my premonitions are right, there will be a guy with red hair and green eyes for your husband in the future. Besides, you should know that you'll always have friends. And even if you don't start out with any, you'll make some eventually. If it happened to me with Natsume, then it can happen to you with anybody." I said softly and kindly. She looked stunned from my tone of voice. I turned back to Natsume and we continued our jog to my dorm room now.

After Classes Mikan's POV

I shooed Natsume to his room again. Knowing that Natsume would hear if I left out my front door, I jumped out the window to the campus grounds. Jumping over the wall, I asked around for the nearest post office. I walked to the counter of the post office when the line had finally reached me.

"Welcome. How may I help you?" the lady asked.

"I need a phone and address book for each of these cities." I said, pulling out my list of cities. Her eyes widened.

"I don't know if we have for all of those cities, but maybe most of them." she said.

"Okay, hand them to me." I said. The woman took a while walking all around, behind the counter looking for phone books. It took her about half an hour to find all of them. I gave a smile.

"Thank you so much." I said. She nodded, wiping the sweat off her face from running around. I walked out, and after checking that nobody was around, compacted all the heavy books I was carrying. I teleported myself to the pub that wasn't too far off and looked for Hiroshima.

"Hiroshima, do you happen to know Natsume's mother's maiden name?" I asked. He nodded.

"Sumiki." he said. I thanked him and ran out of the pub.

"Don't tell Natsume I was here!!!" I called out behind me. I quickly ran to the academy, needing to make it back before Natsume noticed I was gone. Gladly, he didn't notice a thing. I stashed the compacted books in my desk along with the list of cities. I have fifteen address books and fifteen phone books. I should read 3 of each, each day. I walked to Natsume's room and knocked on the door. He opened the door wearing sweats and his hair wet.

"Natsume, how many times do I have to do this for you?" I asked, grabbing a towel on the counter.

"I don't ask you to." he said. I rolled my eyes and had him sit on the floor as I knelt behind him and dried his hair.

"So, what you been up to?" I asked when I was done and stood up. He stood up as well.

"I watched tv, read mangas, and that's all." he said.

"That's all you ever do Natsume." I said. He shrugged and sat on his couch.

"For god's sake, Natsume. At least put on a shirt. You can't just be walking around in jeans all day. You'll get cold." I said. He shook his head.

"The fire alice comes in handy in that." he said.

"Oh, well, I'm cold." I said. Fire balls appeared around me. They danced like they did in the amusement park, warming me up this time, though.

"I love your alice. It's so amusing and pretty. I said that before, though, didn't I?" I said. He nodded.

"You are the only who ever thought my alice was amusing or "pretty"." he said.

"Well that's because people underestimate the true aspects of nature and life. If a fireball were to appear in front of them, they would cower. With me, it amuses me to see the reds, oranges, and yellows dancing with in one flame. I like how it looks like they're dancing. Any element of the earth is not something that should be called beautiful. Water, fire, earth, air, and much more. They are all things that should be cherished and worshipped. Fire doesn't need to destroy things. It can weld things together too. Fire is an important part of life. And people just don't look at it that way." I said.

"And here I was thinking that my alice could only kill. But, thanks." he said. I smiled at him.

"Your welcome! I have a mission tonight though, so I should get going. I need some sleep so I don't go all drowsy." I said.

"Be careful. If you have any injuries, come here first." he said. I nodded and walked out of the room into my room. Checking that Natsume didn't follow me out with my x-ray alice, I pulled one of the books out of my desk, uncompacting it in the process. I opened it and flipping through the pages, skipping all the restaurant ads and addresses. I flipped through some more pages of the addresses of people and got ready to leave. I'll have to finish tonight.

Mikan's POV That Saturday

I had been repeating the same process I had with the address books. I hung out with Natsume during school and afterwards at the pub. I dealt with one book before my mission and then the two others afterwards. I tried to seem upbeat near Natsume so that he wouldn't suspect me of night charades or anything. Saturday morning and it's the last three phone books. Natsume had asked me to the pub earlier but I told him I was tired and wanted to stay here. He said he wouldn't be back until late, so it was perfect. I began reading. By noon, I found it in the last book. Mira Sumiki 38 Luna Rd, Matsudo Japan. Matsudo. I'll have to take a train there. I grabbed my stuff and put it into a purse Natsume had bought for me a while ago. I jumped out the window and headed out the gates to the nearest subway. Thank the lord that at the exact time I got there, the Matsudo train had arrived. It was a half hour ride to Matsudo. Though it didn't take me long to catch the subway, it sure as hell took me a while to find the home. An hour is a lot for me when looking for something. It's all because of the stupid map. I found the house eventually and jumped onto a tree to see if I could see Aoi through the window. She was at a desk, writing what seemed to be a letter. I scanned her mind for one of her friends and transformed into the girl. I walked to the front doorstep and rang the doorbell.

"Welcome Shirayuki. I didn't know you were coming over today." Mira said. I nodded keeping my face like the girl's was in Aoi's memory of her.

"Aoi, Shirayuki is here!" Mira called.

"Send her up, please!" Aoi called back. I walked up the stairs and looked through the walls for Aoi's room. I stepped in and she had stashed the letter and looked to me with a smile.

"Hey? What are you doing here? We hadn't arranged a party or anything, had we?" Aoi asked. I spoke, knowing that it would turn out like the girl's voice.

"Aoi, I'm not Shirayuki. I need to talk to you about your brother, Natsume." I said seriously now, though still in the girl's tone. She looked stunned.

"How do you know about Natsume? Who are you?" she asked, backing away. I transformed into my original self, wearing a white sundress. I left a sunny smile on my face and my eyes warm.

"I'm Natsume's best friend!" I said, making sure that Mira downstairs wouldn't be able to hear my cheery attitude.

"I don't know you. Prove you're his best friend." Aoi said, keeping her distance. I pulled out my phone and dialed Natsume's number. I put the phone on speaker and held a finger to my lips to gesture Aoi quiet.

"_Hello?" Natsume said on the line._

"_Hi, Natsume! I just have one question." I said._

"_Okay." he responded._

"_Am I your best friend?" I asked._

"_Yeah. Where did that random question come from?" he asked._

"_I was just wondering. See you tonight, Natsume." I said._

"_See ya." he answered. I hung up the line._

"If you want more proof, I have pictures of my family vacation. We brought him and Ruka along." I said, pulling out pictures that included me and Natsume and some with the entire group.

"So your Natsume's girlfriend?" she asked.

"Why does everybody say that? I'm his best friend." I said with a sigh.

"Well then what are you doing here?" she asked.

"I just want to know if you would like to see Natsume." I said. Her eyes widened.

"Does he know about this? I'm pretty sure that he knows the restrictions my mother put." she said.

"He doesn't know about it. But he sends you those letters every month, which means he would love to see you. He's already done so much for me, and I think this is the only way to repay him. I mean, it only took me 14 address books and 14 phone books, before on the fifteenth, I found your address." I said with a cheesy smile.

"You did all that to make Natsume happy?" she said.

"And you. I mean, I was separated from my family for a while once and it was a pain. And knowing that you have restrictions, it would make both of you happy to see each other, right?" I said.

"Yeah, but like you said, we have restrictions." she answered.

"Well, you'll just tell your mother that tomorrow you're going to go out shopping with a new friend and that you're gonna meet up with her in the park. I'll tell Natsume that we should go explore different cities, and we'll meet you there." I said.

"Meet Natsume after all these years? I hope he lets me." she said. I smiled.

"Of course. He would love to see you. Tomorrow at 1 o'clock, wait by the park. What was it called?" I asked myself.

"Swan Lake Park?" she asked. I snapped my finger.

"That's the one. I'll bring him there and he won't suspect a thing." I said.

"Okay. Thank you so much." she said.

"No problem. Natsume's happiness is my happiness." I said.

"You sound like you love my brother. But you said you're only best friends, so I'll take your word for it. I'll meet you there." she said. I nodded and transformed myself back into the girl from before.

"How did you know what Shirayuki looked like? How did you do that?" she asked.

"I took a glance at your memories to see one of your friends and transformed with one of my alices." I explained. She nodded with a smile.

"I'll walk you down." she said. I held out my hand.

"Here, my cell phone number, just in case your mom says no, so that I can reschedule." I said handing her a card I manifested. She placed it on her desk and walked me downstairs. With a wave I walked out, transformed myself, and took the first train back home.

Next Day Mikan's POV

I woke up, not the least bit tired. Natsume was surprisingly in my room, when I awoke.

"Let me get ready. I'll be right out with you, because I have plans for what to do today." I said. Walked into the bathroom and got ready quickly. In my towel, I walked to my closet. Pulling out a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, I put on a white spaghetti strap tank top, and Natsume's plaid shirt on top. I left a few buttons open so that the white tank top would show, put on a pair of blue converse, and brushed my hair straight down. I walked out and tapped Natsume on the shoulder seeing as he was facing away, watching tv. He turned slowly.

"You're wearing my shirt." he said.

"Yep. See if it's any good luck today." I said. He raised an eyebrow and stood up.

"So where are we going?" he asked.

"Surprise." I answered, grabbing his hand and leading him out the door. I had a black knapsack on my back, carrying necessities and emergency items. I led him out of the school gates, which was basically over the wall once again, and to the nearest subway station. With my luck, I again caught the train on time. We rode for 30 minutes and Natsume and I occupied ourselves with small talk and questions for each other. When the train stopped at our stop I led Natsume out of the subway station. When we got out, I stopped him though.

"Natsume, could you piggy back me?" I asked.

"No." he said, bluntly. I gave a pout with my arms crossed.

"Please!!!!" I whined. When I saw him kneel down, I got on his back.

"Thank you Natsume!" I said, giving him a small peck on the cheek. I led him towards Swan Lake Park. When we were at sight distance, I covered his eyes and he immediately stopped.

"I'll lead you. It's part of the surprise." I said. He nodded.

"Forward ten steps." I said. He took the ten steps.

"Left, two steps." I said. He again listened.

"Right, five steps." I said. He turned to the original direction and went the five steps. We were standing right next to the bench Aoi was seated on.

"Are you ready for the surprise?" I asked, grinning like crazy.

"Mikan, what are you doing?" he asked. He sounded like I was making a crazy antic.

"Are you ready for the surprise?" I asked once again, this time letting my voice sound a little grumpier.

"Yes." he said with a sigh. I jumped down and let him see again. Aoi was looking down at her lap as if it were the most interesting thing.

"You get to meet your brother again after years and you're looking at the ground?" I asked Aoi with my hands on my hips.

"Brother?" Natsume asked.

"Yep. This is your sister Aoi Hyuuga. She's grown up since the last time you saw her, right?" I asked, helping Aoi off the bench. She still looked at the ground.

"Long time no see, onii-chan." she said, still looking at the ground. Natsume didn't say anything, but instead hugged her. Aoi began to tear on Natsume's chest. I wiped a tear of happiness.

"Well, I'll let you guys enjoy your day together. Have a nice time catching up and stuff." I said, stepping away with a wave. Natsume nodded towards me and Aoi smiled, mouthing a thank you. I smiled back and made the trip home by myself this time.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Later That Night Mikan's POV

I was just reading in my room until I heard a slamming door. I knew it would have to be Natsume, so I stood and made my way there. Not knocking, I entered the dark room. Natsume looked at me, and he looked angry. He walked, no, stomped over to me. Being angry didn't surprise me as much as it did when he slapped me across the face. I was on the ground, hand on my cheek and tearing up.

"What's wrong?" I sobbed. The pain of that hit was horrible. It really made me cry.

"What's wrong?! You're nosy! You're a lousy friend!!! You are everything troublesome in this world!!!! All you do is make me run around!!! You only make me do more and more things!!! Do you really think your little thank you's will pay off anything. Your brother was right the last time!!!! You cause everybody's misery!!!! Collapse after collapse, you're too much trouble and responsibility. I don't want to see your face ever, and I mean ever, again!!!!!" he yelled. I just sobbed even more hearing those things from Natsume.

"What happened? Why are you so mad?" I asked.

"Because you made a secret rendezvous, we thought nobody would be around to see us. But Aoi's mother walked right into the scene. She smacked Aoi right across the damn face so that she would land on the damn floor. She was crying and her mother forbade her from even writing letters to me!!!! She said she would rip up every letter she found in the mail that was from me!!!! You ruined me!!! Aoi was the only real family I had besides my father and you made her distance herself from me even more than before!!!" he yelled. I backed up a little.

"Get out of my face!!!!! Get out of my room!!!! Never come near me again!!!!!!!!!!!" he yelled. I immediately got up and ran into my room, crying to full extent now. I threw myself on my bed, not caring if it messed up the covers, and cried. The only person who has ever cared about me outside of my family. The one person I trusted the most in my life. The one person that defended me when my brother hit me and when Luna hit me. The one person that dealt with my family and stuck around me. The one person that bothered to waste his time on me. He just said, that he never wants to see me again. That he doesn't want me anywhere near him. I cried myself to sleep. And it took a while before my tears turned into snores, until I had to get up for my mission again.

Next Day Mikan's POV

I woke up extra early and did my jogging with tears in my eyes. I got dressed in just some jeans, a black sweater, and didn't even bother to brush my hair. I walked into class an hour before anyone would even come in. With the little sleep I had last night, I fell right asleep, but I was in the very back of the class, where I knew I would be no where near Natsume. I made sure to keep a nullification barrier up in case I slept through Jinno's class.

During Jinno's Class

I was sleeping until I felt something coming towards my barrier. I raised my head and let it hit me, my face showing that it had not affected me.

"Miss Sakura…" he began.

"I'm not in the mood." I said calmly, but letting him notice the annoyance and threat in my voice.

"With me, you're always gonna be in the…" he said before I cut him off once.

"I'm not in the mood." I said raising my voice.

"You're always in the mood with me. Now you listen…" he said before I had to once again cut him off.

"I'm not in the mood!" I yelled. He immediately backed off seeing my red eyes and that I was really not in the mood.

"Okay. Talk to me after class, though." he said. I just let myself back into slumber. I woke again when I had heard the bell. I slept through all my classes but this one. I raised my head as Jinno approached.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"I would like to know what's wrong. You have never spoken back in that matter and obviously something must be wrong." he said.

"I'm just grumpy." I said.

"And this is your definition of grumpy?" he asked.

"I was on a mission. I didn't sleep. I'm upset and I don't want anything to do with the human kind at the moment." I responded. He raised an eyebrow. I stood up grabbing my books.

"Jinno, I don't understand why you have to be the only teacher that bothered me today." I said.

"You're not even wearing your uniform?" he asked.

"Jinno, for at least a week or two, please leave me alone." I said. I walked out the door and left him there. Sadly enough, when I got to my room, Natsume was exiting his. My head only turned slightly but there was a look of disgust on his face. I ran into my room crying when he finally descended the stairs. I couldn't focus on anything.

The End Of The Week Mikan's POV

The rest of the week ran like this, and I couldn't take it. Today (Friday), I didn't go to classes. I grabbed all my things and put them in a luggage. Everything given to me by Natsume, I placed in his room. Thank the lord he doesn't lock his window. I put his plaid shirt, the purse he bought me, the laptop, cell phone, and digital camera, the alice control devices I had, and all the clothes he bought me on his bed. Maybe he can give them to the next girl he befriends. I took what I had left, which fit in a small purse, and left the academy, not intending to return.

Natsume's POV After Classes

That girl is so annoying. Thank the lord she didn't go to class. I walked into my room. Even better. She left the school, I bet. I'll never have to risk seeing her ugly disgusting face again. I took the things on my bed and threw them on the ground in my closet. Though I put the electronics in more delicately. I continued my day fine.

Two Days Later Natsume's POV

I walked into class only to walk back out from an announcement.

_*Would all students please report to the southern gates of the school* the principal said._

Everybody walked towards the southern gates. We were all gathered and Imai and Ruka stood by me. I hadn't told them about what happened yet but I was guessing they knew by their reactions. They just let me have my distance while Imai sent me glares every once in a while. When every student was out on the sandy field, millions of men appeared in front of us. In the front, the elementary school principal. I recognized the rest as AAO members. We sent all the children to the back and let middle schoolers and high schoolers in front.

"So, you weren't expecting your principal to be the leader of the AAO, did you?" he said. He had a smirk on his face as the men charged. We all put up a fight for an hour but it was hard. We were outnumbered greatly and everybody was tired and on the ground. And then…_she _showed up. She was standing in the front in another pair of her travel clothes, which were green cargos and a plain gray tee.

"Mikan!" Imai said. She didn't even turn around. We caught three rocks that she threw back. She turned around but didn't look at me in the eye.

"Listen up! All of you stand behind either one of these three. My alice stone will protect you if they can use it properly." she said. Everybody quickly gathered behind one of us three and we activated the alice stone. In seconds Mikan was in front of the crowd jumping around. The AAO was more afraid and nervous with her around. I noticed after a while how her movements were slowing, the other side was able to land a few hard hits on her small body, and she was using her alice more than her combat skills. I was surprised that she finished the entire army off without passing out right away. She was only a few yards away. She knelt to the ground, clutching her shirt in front of her heart. She was all scratched up and bleeding all over. I approached her and a few feet away, she spoke.

"Keep the fuck away." she said. I stopped in my tracks.

"Why?" I asked.

"You wanted me away, I'm away. Go fucking back to protecting those kids cuz I don't know where the shit the ESP is." she said. I turned around to walk back, knowing that arguing with her would be futile. Hearing a gun shot though, made me spin around immediately. It was coming straight at me, but before it could hit me, Mikan was there standing in front of me. Most likely teleported to make it in time. She winced as she hit the ground. I knelt down to her.

"What the hell?! Why'd you take the shot?!" I yelled. She stood up from her spot, leaning over and clutching the shoulder she had just gotten shot in.

"Shut up. I'm leaving." she said, beginning to walk away.

"But what about the ESP?" I called after her. She didn't answer and I looked around the grounds. The elementary school principal was lying on the ground, non moving, but still alive.

"You decide what to do with him. He's paralyzed and I stole his alice." the wind carried her voice. I looked over to the direction she had left but she wasn't there. I grabbed the elementary school principal and dragged him to the forest. I had Mr. Bear chop his head off. The deed was done and he would never threaten alices again. I walked back to the grounds. All of the students were gone but Ruka.

"Everybody said we should all meet in the auditorium. Some for healing and others for talking things over." he said. I walked with him but I was really not in the mood. I had treated Mikan like crap for an entire week, but she still took a gun shot for me. The entire school had treated her like shit, but she still protected them. I walked into the auditorium. Imai was seated on the stage with two empty seats next to her. I followed Ruka up. Once we were seated, hands shot up at the speed of light.

"What was her name?" a little kid asked. I walked to the microphone, not able to remove the guilt from my face.

"Mikan Sakura." I said.

"What are her alices?" a middle school student asked.

"Confidential." Imai said, standing up to the mic.

"What is her alice type?" a high schooler asked. Imai and I sat back down, not even wanting to think about it. Ruka stood this time.

"She has a unique alice type. The main point of it is that every time she uses her alice or forces it a little too much, she collapses or gets a high fever and such. Overusing her alice too much can also put her in a coma or bring her to death." he said. Their faces dropped, knowing she could be in some deep shit. My face couldn't help but drop either. The sad faces just caused everybody to dismiss themselves. I walked to my room and the first thing I did was bang my head against the door. How could I be so stupid. She'd done so much for me, despite the fact that it looked like I did more for her. She made me smile, laugh, blush. She was the first one to call my alice something beautiful. She actually made me feel special. And I know I sound like an emotional girl right now but she convinced me to love her. She did it unconsciously, but completed the task. And all she tried to do was make me happy when she had me meet Aoi again. And by pure accident was it that Aoi's mother had been there. I was so stupid. I am so stupid. So stupid. I banged my head against the door even more. I don't know how far she could have gotten with her alice and herself in the condition. I walked to her room but it was empty. The scent of her was faint, showing she hadn't stepped into the room in a while. Where could she be in that condition? I would have thought that despite our argument she would have at least let me approach her. And even then, she was trying to comply with my wishes. I told her to stay away, and she did exactly that. I told her not to barge into my mind and she did exactly that. I had privacy with her. She had walls all over the place with her, but she brought them down for me. The first person she allowed to get close. She trusted in me. She trusted me with her fears, her happiness, her depressions, her story, her past. She even fucking dried my hair so that I wouldn't get a cold. How could I have said those things to her? I'm such an idiot. Beating myself up wouldn't do any better so I lied myself down and slept on her bed, trying only to think of the good moments I had spent with her. Though those memories only made me feel worse.

Next Day Natsume's POV Still

I didn't attend classes. Nobody did. They were all locked away in their rooms discussing yesterday's events. I went directly to the front gates and they let me out without objection. I walked to the pub, not even bothering to take my motorcycle. I walked in and the place was not at what it usually is. They were in whispers, each people at a table leaning over towards each other or with worried and depressed looks, like something important had recently happened. But I wasn't concerned with that. I walked behind the bar and took out several beers. I placed them on the counter and took my regular seat. All I could think of was drinking my worries away. But then again, I have high alcohol tolerance. By the time I was on my 4th beer and still not tipsy, my dad came out.

"Woah, kid, what are you doing there?" he asked. He took the unopened beers and put them back behind the counter.

"Trying to drink my worries away. I feel like shit." I answered.

"Is it because of Mikan?" he asked.

"How do you know?" I asked in turn.

"A wild guess. She came by yesterday." he said.

Mr. Hyuuga's POV

Natsume's head shot up.

"Explain everything, now." he demanded. I shrugged my shoulders, particularly shrugging off Mikan's commands.

_Flashback *He's saying his flashback*_

_Everybody was as cheerful as usual. And they were especially loud yesterday too. That was until the doors slammed open. I looked to the opened door, and the sight stunned me and everyone in the pub. Mikan, the girl we thought was practically untouchable, was bruised, battered, and she looked like she had a few bullets in her. She limped, she didn't walk, she limped over to me. Many people approached the counter._

"Don't touch me!" she commanded fiercely. They backed off a little but kept within hearing distance.

"Mikan, what's up? You're bleeding all over the place." I said.

"Don't worry about that. I'll be fine. Just…" she said, needing to stop for a breather. She started falling to the ground but held onto a chair to pick herself back up.

"Mikan!" the pub called. She ignored the calls.

"Hand this to Natsume if you see him. I know he probably won't read it, but at least try to convince him…" she said before taking another breather. She took out and envelope from a small bag she had on her. It was bloody but you could still see the white of the envelope and you could still probably read the letter, even though I'm sure the blood stained through.

"What do you need to give him a letter for? Just talk to him." I said.

"He told me to keep away from him about a week ago. It's the least I could do for everything he's done for me. So I'm leaving town and if he ever asks about me, which I doubt, just hand him that." she said.

"You're leaving? What about us?!" the pub called. She turned around slowly. She gave a weak but loving smile.

"You know I love you guys. And I would hate to leave. But I love Natsume too, and if leaving is what he wants, leaving is what he gets." she said.

"Are you at least going to a hospital to fix yourself up?" Hiroshima asked.

"No. I'm a mercenary. Having any sort of medical file or just any file on me is a danger. Though I'll never have to worry about the AAO again. But you should know that. Any file you have in public, can be used against you. Though I doubt you'll need to worry with your mercenary names. I just caught too much fame too quickly, so now I'm too big to have any files on me." she said.

"Fine. Anything else though?" I asked.

"Don't tell Natsume I was here. No matter what. Make up whatever lie. Tell him I wrote it after a difficult mission when I thought I was gonna die." she said. I raised an eyebrow on what the content of the letter might be. I nodded. She dropped to her knees, kneeling and coughing blood into her hand. A few people from the pub ran up to help her once again.

"I said not to touch me. I'm already in enough pain. I haven't experienced this since the time I first got mercenary missions and such." she said.

"Why are you holding your shoulder so tightly? Why are you limping? What's going on?" Miroku asked. He was freaked out. She gave a small cheesy smile.

"He told me to go away and I still took a bullet for him. That boy's a case. I'm limping cuz I got shot in the leg. Sooner or later I'll pass out, but I'll try to heal myself the most I can before that. I'll wake up after a week or two, unless I have interruptions, and then I should be able to finish healing myself up and pass out for another week or two if I use my alice too much that time." she said. Everybody looked upset.

"Turn those frowns upside down. Know that I'll always be watching you, whether I'm near or far." she said. Being the only female in the pub, she was kind of like a mother or a sister to all of us. It sure sounded that way at least.

"Don't leave…" they said before Mikan's actions halted them. She had teleported mid sentence.

_End of Flashback_

"Where's the letter?!" Natsume asked.

"Are you sure you want it?" I asked. He slammed his fist on the counter.

"Of course I want it! The fucking girl I love walked away from a damn war she fought by herself and only left me a fucking letter!" he yelled. I raised an eyebrow.

"You did tell her to keep away. And at least now you admit that she's smitten you. The letter's a little bloody but you can still read it." I said. I walked in back and retrieved the letter. Natsume ripped the envelope after carefully analyzing the handwriting. His eyes widened after a while.

Natsume's POV

I ripped up the bloody envelope handed to me after checking that it was Mikan's handwriting. Noticing it was hers, I ripped up the envelope, like I said before, and pulled out the letter.

_Dear Natsume,_

_I don't know if you actually wanted to read this letter or just for the fun of it you wanted to see it. You gave me a lot of happiness when we were friends. You always made me smile, you got along with me, you cared for me. You listened to all my nonsense, and you plain out made my life worth living. I thought that my life would continue to be just a miserable tragedy. But because of you, I made friends. I found someone to confide in. Someone who kept the promises they made to me. I want you to know that I appreciate it greatly, whether it's of importance to you or not. _

_It broke my heart when you told me the words you said the words you said last week. I thought you would be the last person on Earth to tell me that. After all, you had defended me from my brother, my enemies, and people that didn't even try to get to know me. I never expected those things from you. But my life always takes tragic turns. And it's alright. You're probably wondering a few things so I should explain a lot to you._

_Okay, to start off. You probably are wondering what happened to all your missions and why you aren't getting them anymore. I had requested from Rui-nii that you not get missions anymore. He told me that somebody would have to take them over, so while I was there I took them. I will take missions for you still but they are gonna be far away from you, like you had requested. Then there's the fact of the gun shot I took. I took it because you brought me happiness, and I would give a lot to repay you. Taking a gun shot is easier than seeing you die. I mean, that thing was aimed for your heart. My accuracy is still at the top of its game, so I knew just where to have it hit me. I'll be fine with my alice type. It shouldn't do anything serious since I took out most of the AAO with combat skills instead of my alice. There's not much else to write, besides the fact that I'm gonna try to leave as soon as possible for you, and one more thing. I know you won't feel the same way as me, but if I'm never gonna see you again, I should say a few words to get it off my chest and move on with my life._

_**I love you, Natsume Hyuuga**_

**_and I always will_**

Mikan Sakura

I slammed my fist on the table in anger and frustration. The pub looked at me.

"Fucking old man! Why didn't you hand me this earlier?! Why didn't you tell me this earlier?!" I yelled.

"I don't know what it says. It's not my job to read it." my dad said.

"Natsume, what does it say?" Hiroshima asked. I calmed a bit to not disrespect the man.

"It says she loves me. The one girl in my life that I ever loved, loved me back, and I pushed her way out of my grasp." I said, placing a hand on my head to calm my headache.

"She loves you?" Miroku asked.

"I don't doubt it. She took a damn bullet for me yesterday. She protected the entire student body. I hadn't talked to her all of that week. I was angry that Mikan arranged for me and Aoi to meet, and our step-mom caught us and cut off any type of communication we had." I explained.

"That explains a lot." my dad said. He pulled out a few papers stapled together and handed them to me.

"She sent legal papers through the mail this morning. I thought it was for you so I didn't read over it too far. Just skimming around. But it basically states, "In case of a divorced pair with now separated children, the children shall not be denied communication with the other, unless decided upon by the child party. Which means, we do not have the right to cut off communication between you two, unless you decide it yourselves. What your and Aoi's step mother has been doing is illegal." he explained.

"She even did the fucking research! I feel worse now. I slapped Mikan across the damn face when I found out all communication with me and Aoi was cut off. I was so stupid. My anger made me forget completely that I loved her so much." I said, banging my head on the counter. I banged it a few times but before I could bang it one more time, I heard thunder. I snapped my head towards the pub doors.

"Was that just thunder?" I asked the pub quickly.

"Yeah. The news people predicted a large thunder and lightning storm." Satsuki said. I jumped out of my seat.

"My fucking god! My luck just gets worse and worse!" I said pacing around in a circle quickly.

"It's just thunder and lightning, Natsume. What are you all worried about?" my dad asked.

"Mikan's afraid of thunder and lightning! Her father used to beat her whenever there was a storm! He would use the thunder to block out her cries and the lightning flashed on all of her bruises. He wouldn't leave until she couldn't walk or she was fucking out of it! She was a kid back then! I would be petrified too, though!" I said. Everybody was in silence.

"What are you waiting here for?! Go get your girl! She couldn't have gotten far!" Hiroshima called. I nodded towards him and the pub and ran out of the door. I went all around town for an hour and returned to the pub.

"Has she been here at all?" I asked, my entire body soaked from rain. They all shook their heads and I ran back out. I looked around again for another hour until I stopped to think. If she as gonna go anywhere, where would she go?? It took me a while to process my thoughts. I'm so fucking stupid!!!! The park!!!! I ran to the park where I had made her cry. She was not there. Thank the lord there was only one other park in the town. I arrived and looked around.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

"Mikan!" I called. I didn't exactly get a response, but I heard whimpering. I immediately knew it was Mikan by the tone of voice. I looked towards the swings, the monkey bars, and in the most obvious of places, I looked last. The penguin home. It was a little slide that looked like a penguin and acted like a house as well, except it didn't have any furniture and was empty and on sand. The whimpering near it was obvious evidence that she was there. I went through the little doorway(which did not have a door). I looked around. In the corner, Mikan was crying. She was hugging her knees with her head buried in them.

"Mikan." I said, rushing over to her. I knelt down an touched her arm but she shook my hand off.

"Don't touch me! Go away!" she cried.

"No, you're afraid." I said, sternly.

"I'm not afraid! Leave!" she said.

"Mikan, if you weren't afraid, you wouldn't be crying. Just come back to the academy with me." I said.

"No! And if you won't leave, I will!" she said. She stood up quickly and ran out of the entrance of the penguin. I stood up just as fast and chased after her. With her head start she got some distance. But I was afraid she would get hit by a car. She was covering her eyes with her arm as she ran, so as not to let me see her cry. With that thought, she crossed the street and a car just missed. It halted. I stood at the hood where the driver could see me.

"What the hell?! Watch where the fuck you're going!!!!" I yelled. The man almost fucking hit the girl I love with all my life.

"She shouldn't cross the street without looking!!!!" he yelled. I slammed a fist in the hood of his car, leaving a dent.

"Fuck that!!! Don't put the blame on her!!!! There was a fucking stop sign there!!!!" I yelled. He was about to respond but I looked towards Mikan's direction and she wasn't even in seeing distance anymore. I ran in the direction hoping to at least see where she went. The sight when I got closer shocked me and only made me run faster.

Mikan's POV

I was running. Covering my eyes so that he wouldn't see my tears. I was about to run across a bridge, but someone stopped me. With the strong and hard grip on the shoulder I had gotten shot in, I knew, it wasn't Natsume. I winced severely, almost dropping to the ground from the pain. My arm was pried off my face and I looked up at the person who had captured me. My step-father. His face was angry and fierce. It made my eyes widen in terror. There was lightning, thunder, rain, _him. _It was just like when I was a child.

"Where's my money?!!!" he yelled at me.

"I don't have any." I whimpered.

"You knew I was gonna come one of these days!!! Where is my money?!!!!!!!!" he yelled even more loudly. I tried to get out of his grip, but the more I struggled, the more he pressed down on my shoulder. I had wrapped it up by myself last night, but I can feel it bleeding once again. I just gave up and stopped moving around, though he still kept an iron grip on my shoulder. He had my arm hanging over my head to shake me. I let the tears dry up so he wouldn't see me cry. So that he wouldn't think that he was winning.

"Where's my money?!!!!" he yelled. I just closed my eyes and let him shake until he left. But just as I closed my eyes, I was free from my step-father's grasp. My eyes snapped open and I saw Natsume beating up my step father. I placed a hand over my mouth to stop myself from gasping.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?! She never did anything to you!!!!! Leave her the fuck alone!!!!! Years of you bothering her, and I don't know why the fuck she didn't do this to you!!!!! You know how much misery she's gone through because of you!!!!!!!! I get these fake smiles all the time and you're the cause of her even needing fake smiles!!!!!!!!!!" Natsume yelled fiercely, punching my step-father back and forth in the face. The tears I had a few moments ago, streamed down my face again.

"She doesn't have time for her family like a kid should have!!!!!!!!!! Instead, you're the cause that she has to go killing people for a living!!!! You're the cause that people fear her!!!!! You took away her childhood!!!!!!!" he said. The tears fell down even more.

"Natsume, stop!" I yelled. He stopped at the sound of my voice. He got off my already unconscious step father and stood in front of him. He took a step towards me and I took a step back. No matter what he says, I will respect his wishes, but he needs to answer a few questions.

"Mikan." he said when I was done taking a step back. His voice seemed sad and melancholy. It was as if he had no hope for something. But that doesn't explain what I wanna know.

"Why did you follow me?" I asked, lowly.

"Why did I follow you?" he asked as if he hadn't heard my question. I nodded.

"Why did you follow me?" I said, my voice now clear. He took a second, looking dazed, but I didn't want to see that. I wanted an answer.

"Why did you follow me?!!!! Why are you here?!!!!!" I yelled.

"You wouldn't believe it if I told you." he said. I was shaking with anger and tears. Closing my fist and un-clenching my fists, I yelled.

"Try me!!!!!" I yelled. I seemed to be yelling at empty space until I noticed Natsume's face hovering close to mine.

"Because I love you. I came her to bring you your happiness." he said shortly before placing his lips gently on mine. He kissed me and I kissed back and the tears just kept on falling down. But I remembered his wishes in the middle of the kiss and pushed him away. He looked like he had lost something dear to him. It was clear in his eyes and only made me look to the ground beside me.

"I will respect your wishes like you had done mine. I suggest you walk away." I said, my voice emotionless even though the words I was speaking were tearing me up inside.

"I won't walk away." he said.

"Why? This is what you wanted. You wanted me to be away from you and now all you're doing is making it harder for me. You think I want to leave the only person I've ever loved. No I don't, but this is what you wanted. And if you love someone you'll let them go." I said.

"I don't want to let you go. Before I was angry. And I took out my frustrations on you. I didn't think about the fact that you were only trying to make me happy. But despite the fact that I was a son of a bitch to you, you still saved me and the school. You still tried and found legal documents stating my rights. And you still loved me despite the shit I treated you like. I won't walk away unless you're walking away with me." he said. His face was hard and determined. I dropped to my knees and buried my face in my hands, crying.

"Don't make this hard! I don't want to cry for the rest of my life!!! I want to be strong for my family!!!! I want to laugh and smile for them!" I said.

"You mean truly laugh and smile? Or do you want to give them that fake smile and laugh so that they won't worry. When I met your family, I recognized which were your true smiles and which weren't." he said.

"Well what do you want me to do about it?!!!! There's nothing I can do!!!!!!! I can't do anything!!!! My only choice is to kill people over and over again!!!! Every night, I have to kill hundreds of men!!!! It's my responsibility!!!!!" I yelled at him, taking my face out from my hands. His eyes were pained and in the blink of an eye, he was hugging me on the ground. We were both getting soaked so I don't know why he wasn't giving up yet. Knowing he wouldn't let go, I just cried on his shoulder. I cried to get all of my emotions out. And when lightning or thunder sounded, I would whimper at the memories that came with them. And he just sat there, hugging me. After an hour the storm passed and the sun shone out, but we were still soaking wet.

"I promised you I would stay with you through every storm. That I would protect you from your father and anybody else. I promised that I wouldn't lie to you. And I will keep my promises, whether you like it or not." He said, ending his last sentence with a cheesy grin. Just when I thought my tears had dried up, his words caused me to cry even more, but this time, it was out of happiness. He picked me up and carried me to the pub. And all the way, I was still crying. Natsume put me down in front of the pub doors. I stood directly behind him. When he walked in, I could hear the screams of the pub.

"Did you find her?!!" they all yelled. He took a step to the side and they cheered seeing my moist and smiley face. I looked towards the bar counter and Mr. Hyuuga nodded towards me, shining his glass with a smile. I was lifted up over a person's shoulder. By the black hair I could see in the corner of my eyes, I knew it was Natsume.

"What are you doing?" I asked, Natsume. He didn't answer and just held a hand out to silence the pub. They answered his silent request.

"I got the girl." he said, calmly. I opened my mouth in awe as the entire pub cheered for Natsume and his corny smile. I wriggled myself out of Natsume's grasp and off his shoulder. I placed both hands on my hips before holding out my hand for silence like Natsume had before. When everybody had silenced themselves I walked to the bar counter and sat on one of the seats. Natsume had a raised eyebrow, wondering what I was gonna do.

"Dear Natsume. Good buddy, old pal. You say you got the girl. But how can you get her if you don't ask?" I said with a smirk. His grin dropped and he looked at me hard.

"Mikan." he growled. My smirk got wider.

"Go ahead. Ask. Nobody's gonna interrupt you." I said. He walked towards me and stopped standing right in front of me.

"Don't be all quiet. It's just a few words." I said.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" he growled lowly. I put a hand to my ear as if I couldn't hear.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" he repeated a little louder.

"Can you speak a little louder? I can't hear a single thing you are saying." I said.

"Would you please be my girlfriend?" he asked, loud enough for the pub and myself to hear. I nodded with a huge cheesy smile on my face as the pub cheered.

"See? That wasn't so horrible." I said. He shrugged.

"You're right. Cuz now I can do this without objections from you or anybody." he said. Before I could ask what, he claimed my lips, asking for a full on make out session. He got what he wanted, not to mention just as rough as he wanted it too. When we broke apart everybody had their eyes opened wide.

"You guys kissed for literally fifteen minutes straight." Hiroshima said, looking at his watch, stunned. Everybody continually stared at us. To drag their attention elsewhere, though, I walked behind the counter and pulled out plenty of beers.

"Beers on me!" I called. They cheered and I began handing out the beers and mugs and everything. Every once in a while the pub members would give me little pervy tips while I was going around. The only thing I would tell them was that I was not doing "that", with Natsume. We stayed late talking to the pub until Natsume grabbed my hands and dragged me out of the doors saying that I needed sleep and rest.

"What do I need sleep and rest for? Why do I need to sleep here?" I asked. I don't want to go back to the school where nobody wants me.

"The only thing that kept you from going through your alice sleep was that lightning storm, which means you haven't recovered fully. I can easily see the drowsiness in your eyes, Mikan. Don't try to hide it. And you're sleeping here because it's most comfortable." he said, dragging me up the dormitory steps now.

"But nobody here wants me anywhere near them." I complained.

"I don't care. I want you here." he said. I sighed as he opened the door to his dorm.

"I can't sleep in my own dorm?" I asked.

"Nope. Don't want you running away, now do I?" he said, tossing himself on the couch and pulling out a manga from on top of the coffee table.

"I wouldn't run away, but so as not to start an argument, I'll just take a shower. I need to clean the blood and bruises anyway." I said.

"Don't break the tiles and run away naked!" he called after me. I rolled my eyes.

"Don't worry, I will!" I said, with a smirk. I could hear his chuckle as I walked through his room and into the bathroom.

Natsume's POV

I read my manga as Mikan took a shower. After a while, though, I heard a knock on the door. Putting down my feet and the manga, I walked over to get the door. I opened it, only to see Youichi, crying at the front of my door, holding a blanket, and his teddy bear. He was rubbing his eyes like a little kid, to get rid of the tears. I led him to the living room and knelt down in front of him.

"What's up?" I asked. He sniffed and rubbed his eye a bit more.

"I miss, nee-chan." he said. Right at that moment, I saw Mikan come out of the bathroom in a towel. She had a look of sadness and longing in her eyes.

"Youichi." she called softly. Youichi whipped around to her, hearing her voice. The tears he had splashed as he ran to her and gave her a huge embrace.

"Mikan-nee!!!!!!" he cried. He cried on her bare shoulder, seeing as she was only in a towel. After a few minutes, his sobs stopped and he wiped his eyes clear of tears.

"I wasn't crying over you." he said.

"Yep, cuz you're my little tough boy." she said, messing up his hair. She got up from her kneeling position and walked into my closet. When she came out, she was wearing a pair of pink and black pajamas I had bought her.

"So, you're gonna sleep with us tonight. I have no problem with it." she said. Youichi nodded. Mikan smiled at him.

"And tomorrow you can come to class with us if you'd like. Treat for me being back in the school." she added. Youichi smiled and walked towards the bed. He jumped into the middle and patted both of his sides. Natsume and I both lied down. I kissed Youichi goodnight and we went to bed happily.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20- Epilogue**

Next Day Mikan's POV

Natsume and I got ready once we awoke. And when Youichi woke up, we walked him to his room and waited for him to get ready. We walked down to class with Natsume and Youichi having little calm guy chats while I just kept my mouth shut and my face stoic. There had been no one in the halls or hanging around the campus grounds, surprisingly enough. When we walked in, at first, the entire class seemed to be depressed. They were talking slowly and quietly, not the slightest bit of happiness in their eyes.

"Mikan?" I heard somebody whisper questioningly. I turned to the voice and saw Ruka and Hotaru standing right outside the doorway of the classroom. Everybody's head shot up at my name.

"Sorry, I'm back." I whispered back. If anything surprised me the most, it would be when everybody rushed up and hugged me. They were all in tears too.

"What's going on? Why are you guys hugging me? Can somebody explain things to me??" I asked, getting literally drenched in tears.

"Mikan, we thought you were gonna die!!!!!" Ruka yelled worriedly, though not sobbing like the rest.

"Everybody was worried!!! We treated you like crap and didn't listen to a single thing you said but you still protected us with your life. I'm so sorry for all those insults I gave you. I'm sorry for everything. The guilt is eating away at me!!!" Shoda said. I gave her a tight hug and then smiled at her.

"It's okay. Besides, I wouldn't have died. I would have eventually healed myself after passing out or being in a coma or something. It's not like I haven't been through the stages already. And during the fight I was always regulating how much I pushed my alice, so that I wouldn't die. I wasn't gonna leave all my friends in a cold world like this without me watching over them. And there's no need to feel guilty. You were scared. And you converted that to anger. That's all." I said. Everybody cried even more. My arms were busy patting heads and cooing that everything was okay to everybody in the class. After a while Natsume came in to everything.

"Okay give her a little bit of space guys. I got the girl and now it seems like I'm sharing her with everybody in the class." he said. Ruka and Hotaru raised their eyebrows and crossed their arms.

"You got the girl?" they said in unison. Natsume smirked and I knew it meant mischief. I was gonna walk away the minute I sensed that feeling but he grabbed my hand, pulled me back, and claimed my lips in one go. I melted into his kiss and couldn't resist reacting. But then, I remembered we were in front of the entire class. I pulled away with a huge blush on my face.

"Maybe in front of the pub, but not the class." I said quietly. Hotaru and Ruka were chuckling at us.

"Shut up. A kid told you, you made nasty kissey faces." I said, reminding them of the event. Natsume and I laughed when their smirks dropped. I was glued to his waist the entire day. With one arm around my waist, he kept me real close.

"You know you're gonna have trouble with my brother right?" I asked him as we walked to the dangerous ability class.

"I'll just have to deal with it. I'm not letting you go again." he said with a shrug of his shoulders. I smiled. When we got to the class meeting area, his arm came out from around my waist. The urgency of it made me giggle.

"Still a little bit afraid, are we now?" I asked.

"That man could have me dead in a matter of seconds." he said. I laughed out loud.

"Do you want me to tell him?" I asked. He nodded. A second later Rui appeared. Before he started talking, I walked up to him. I made sure to bring Natsume with me.

"Rui-nii." I said. He nodded towards me.

"Glad you're okay. What is it?" he asked.

"I need you to see something." I said. He nodded once again. I turned towards Natsume with a smile and then kissed him roughly. He kissed back, obviously. He can't resist my kisses and I can't resist his. Mid kiss, Rui-nii pried us apart.

"What is this supposed to mean?!" he yelled. I smiled at him.

"It means Natsume's boyfriend and you can't say anything about it." I said. I turned to skip away with Natsume in haul until Rui-nii called out to me.

"Wait, Mikan. I approve of your relationship. He's never done anything to hurt you and you seem to like him a lot. I'm not gonna deny you the bit of happiness you have, even if it means a guy has to bring it to you." he said. I dropped Natsume's collar, which I was dragging him by. I ran up to Natsume and gave him a huge hug with a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you Rui-nii. I'll leave telling the rest of the family up to you. Hotaru, Ruka, and Youichi are waiting for us." I said. With a nod from both of us, I walked off. I walked off to the rest of my happy life brought to me by my very special boyfriend.


End file.
